I thought I’d call, he said. Wanted to talk, I guess. It gets lonely. Very lonely.

Yep. It sure can, she said. Men call me all the time and tell me how lonely they are. Like I can jump through the phone and be with them or something. She wrapped the phone cord around her wrist and unraveled it. A cigarette burned in an ashtray.

Maybe that’s why we call, he said. Just to escape loneliness. You think that?

Could be. Hard to tell sometimes. A lot of men want to just jack off and hang up as soon as they come. That sort of thing. Others want to scold me. Thinking they can save my soul afterward. Of course, they have to jack off first.  She laughed. Usually ministers spreading the word of God and shaking their seed upon the ground of the earth. Or some shag carpet in their den while the wife’s upstairs asleep. Oblivious.

Ministers, huh? He said.

Oh yeah. Business executives, cops, always someone important.  Or at least they say they’re important. They all sound the same. Heavy breathing and cursing. Terrible things, they say. Real hard on the ears if you’re new to this. I caught on real quick. Just let them do the talking and moan a lot. Tell them how big they are. Things like that, she told him.

Yeah. I could see that, said the male caller. He laughed. We always want to be what we aren’t.

Ain’t that the truth, she laughed. So. Why did you call?

I’m not sure.

Are you married? She asked.

No. I’m all by myself these days.

So, you were married?

Had a girlfriend out in Flagstaff.  She left me for some guy in Phoenix. He owned a few car washes. Had money. I think they married. Not sure, he told the woman.

I see.

Yeah. It hurt. At first, it hurt really bad, he said. Rejection always hurts. Everybody gets the blues. Even cowgirls get the blues, he laughed.

Cowgirls?

Book by Tom Robbins. Same guy who wrote Still Life With Woodpecker.

Never heard of him, she confessed.

Not a lot of people have. People don’t read.

I read, she said.

What?

Huh?

What do you read?

She took a drag off her Marlboro. I read Jant Evonovich. True crime stuff. James Patterson. I’m well rounded. They both laughed.

So. You wanna get off?

Not sure, he said. I just like talking.

Weird. You can talk to anybody, she told him.

Not really.

Shy?

Just uncomfortable around people, he said.

It’s your money.

Yeah. I just like to talk.