Death at a distance and that dreaded phone call

My stomach knots with anxiety when I receive a phone calls from home, Kenya. Don’t get me wrong, I get many happy calls from family and friends, but the possibility of receiving that one damned call, about the death or sickness of a loved one, doesn’t elude my days. I have dreaded that phone call for so long. 

On Wednesday that dread phone call finally came. I had just left work and was on the bus heading for language school when my phone rang.

It was my mother calling. It was a beautiful day, my second day at a new job in a Danish college, as a teacher. I was excited to share the details of the day with my mother. However, something in her voice sent dark trepidation crossing through my mind. With trembling hands, I hang up the phone. I would call her back in a minute. I was shaking with dread. Not ready to hear the news.  I was not psychologically prepared to receive any bad news. But I had to call her back.