In order to move forward with the story, I have to back up a month or so. I think when people go through this sort of thing, they automatically start going backwards to look for signs they missed. Or maybe they were signs we just didn't want to see.
It was early October. My parents and the kids came to visit me. We did all the normal vacation stuff and finally had an afternoon home. My dad fell asleep on the couch while the kids played a video game and the 2 year old slept. Then my dad's phone started buzzing off the wall. Dad didn't wake up. SO not like my dad. He used to be a really light sleeper and anything would wake him- especially his phone. He always had that damn phone glued to his ear.
My mom asked me to look into his phone and see who was calling. Somewhere deep down I think she had a suspicion that something was up. My dad had been traveling a lot for work and was always not home when he said he would be. It was always, "I'll be home Friday" cut to 5 days later and he's not home. So as the kids are distracted playing the zombie game, I go into his phone to play detective. Commence operation Spy on Dad.
I open the phone and find it mostly empty. There are only a few numbers saved. Some numbers saved as "A", "D", and other seemingly random letters. And then a text pops up. This is the actual text from (970) 779-03XX to my dad. And yes, I did actually put the real number up there as I wrote this. But my damn morals are getting in the way and I just can't seem to put the whole number up there. Good grief I wish I could just do it.
TEXT 1:
"Hello sorry i missed your call been so dam sick and i lost my phone had to get a new one anyway how are you"
Then I look into the sent text file to see if there is a response. Nope. Wiped clean.
TEXT 2 (from same number)
"We never got them. I'm so glad you are ok. I miss you. Cant wait til you are here. Try to text my phone at 161039060XX" (again the stupid morals thing)
So now I've read a text from someone that misses my dad. This just doesn't feel right. If it was family, I'd recognize the number...right? Do I tell my mom it seems fishy? She's sitting right there looking at me waiting to know. Shit. I hate being the messenger.
I wave her to come to the computer room. We have to find out where these numbers are coming from and get some more solid info before we jump to any conclusions. (This reasoning I can attribute to my many years of watching CSI. My home school detective education ha!)
Time to Google. (970) area code is from the western and northern parts of Colorado. I know what you are thinking. Its got to be family right? Wrong. We know NOBODY that is living or has lived in Colorado. (610) area code serves the Eastern and Southeast regions of Pennsylvania. The area includes the cities of Allentown, Bethlehem, and Reading. Hmm. And again do not know anyone in or around PA.
Time to Google. (970) area code is from the western and northern parts of Colorado. I know what you are thinking. Its got to be family right? Wrong. We know NOBODY that is living or has lived in Colorado. (610) area code serves the Eastern and Southeast regions of Pennsylvania. The area includes the cities of Allentown, Bethlehem, and Reading. Hmm. And again do not know anyone in or around PA.
Now we try the reverse phone look up. And low and behold, there are like 100,000 websites ready to reverse look up the phone number for only. $1.95 a month or $14.95 for a one time use. While my mom starts to reach for her credit card, I forward the texts to my phone, pick up the house phone (which is a blocked number) and dial the 610 number. No I didn't really think this one through.
"Hello," a female answers.
"Who is this?" I ask. Isn't that annoying when people call you and ask you who you are? Oh well.
"Who is this? You called me" she says.
Think fast Samantha! THINK!
"Uhhh I just got a call from this number and I was wondering why you called me." I lie.
"Where are you?" She asks. Doesn't that seem like an odd question?
"I'm in California, where are you?" I ask. Seems like I'm having a duel with words. Like an old western when the two dudes back up to the line to draw their guns. Okay maybe its not that dramatic.
"Well, I have a friend in Arizona and in Colorado. Maybe I dialed the wrong number." She says.
HOT DAMN. My parents live in Arizona. Is it a connection? I don't know CSI didn't cover this.
"Umm okay. Thanks." I say.
"Okay Bye." She says. And we both hang up.
What did that tell me. Not much. Nothing really. So I turn to my mom, who looks like she will burst from anticipation. I tell her what happened, and she storms to the couch to wake up my dad and accuse him of being with other women. WHOA.
AVERT CRISIS! Must remove children from the disaster that is about to erupt. I gather the kids, scoop up the baby from his crib- which is such a bummer since a sleeping toddler is golden to any mother. And the four of us flee the house.
When we return after a long walk, everything seems normal. Mom and Dad are talking in a civil tone and things are fine. Or I stuck my head in the sand and pretended things were fine.
FAST FORWARD TO THE STORY AT HAND:
Dad's in jail for something. Who knows. Thinking back, I wonder why we didn't just call the jail house and ask what he was being held for, but we didn't. I think Mom and I were in a little bit of shock and a state of "pause" and logic didn't really cross our minds.
As my mom and I talk on the phone the morning after my dad was taken in, we begin trying to figure out what my dad has done. We start playing the "maybe this, maybe that" game when my wise-beyond-her-years sister says, "Why don't we look in his car?"
DUH!!!! My mom hangs up the phone and goes to search his car with my sister. And I wait.
"Hello," a female answers.
"Who is this?" I ask. Isn't that annoying when people call you and ask you who you are? Oh well.
"Who is this? You called me" she says.
Think fast Samantha! THINK!
"Uhhh I just got a call from this number and I was wondering why you called me." I lie.
"Where are you?" She asks. Doesn't that seem like an odd question?
"I'm in California, where are you?" I ask. Seems like I'm having a duel with words. Like an old western when the two dudes back up to the line to draw their guns. Okay maybe its not that dramatic.
"Well, I have a friend in Arizona and in Colorado. Maybe I dialed the wrong number." She says.
HOT DAMN. My parents live in Arizona. Is it a connection? I don't know CSI didn't cover this.
"Umm okay. Thanks." I say.
"Okay Bye." She says. And we both hang up.
What did that tell me. Not much. Nothing really. So I turn to my mom, who looks like she will burst from anticipation. I tell her what happened, and she storms to the couch to wake up my dad and accuse him of being with other women. WHOA.
AVERT CRISIS! Must remove children from the disaster that is about to erupt. I gather the kids, scoop up the baby from his crib- which is such a bummer since a sleeping toddler is golden to any mother. And the four of us flee the house.
When we return after a long walk, everything seems normal. Mom and Dad are talking in a civil tone and things are fine. Or I stuck my head in the sand and pretended things were fine.
FAST FORWARD TO THE STORY AT HAND:
Dad's in jail for something. Who knows. Thinking back, I wonder why we didn't just call the jail house and ask what he was being held for, but we didn't. I think Mom and I were in a little bit of shock and a state of "pause" and logic didn't really cross our minds.
As my mom and I talk on the phone the morning after my dad was taken in, we begin trying to figure out what my dad has done. We start playing the "maybe this, maybe that" game when my wise-beyond-her-years sister says, "Why don't we look in his car?"
DUH!!!! My mom hangs up the phone and goes to search his car with my sister. And I wait.
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