I was ready to turn away and go back to work since nobody had answered the door. Most weeks I managed one of my breaks with my elderly mum, and to be honest, we didn't plan for today, since it wasn't on our usual day.
As I made my way down the apartment stairs, I happened to meet my aunt Phyllis (mum's sister), who was making her way laboriously up the stairs with two packets of bottled water. An island with rain problems made it imperative that we only drink mineral water.
We greeted each other as usual, and taking the packets from her, made our way back. I knew Phyllis had her own key to my mum's flat. My aunt, who hated me calling her that, was just two years older than me, and we had been very good friends when we were young. My mum was the oldest of seven children, and Phyllis was the one before last, coming into the world when my mum was already nineteen. I was born two years after my aunt, but apart from my being in school earlier, we were just like twins.
Although she was now fifty-one, she had still retained a lot of her beauty from when she was young. I vividly recall spying on her through a peep hole when she used to be changing when we were youths. I used to love watching her breasts change shape whenever she used to reach around to fasten her bras, usually sheer black lace.
"Mum still not home?" she asked.
"Nope!" I reply. "Unless she's dead."
I smiled at her shocked response. It took her some moments to realize that I was kidding. On the face of it though, it was a tasteless joke. However I had noticed that her key wasn't on her holder, which indicated she wasn't there.
