“Not yet,” I told Ruth.

She nodded.

I did not know what he had seen at home.

I did not know whether Mom was watching beside him or whether Dad had turned the volume up.

Later, their own accounts filled in some of that morning.

At the time, I knew only that the call arrived after the broadcast.

I let it go unanswered while I sat in a room full of people.

It was different from declining a number during an alarm.