the student loan

i get the daily call
about my student
loan.
we can help you pay it off,
the woman says, stating
first that we're on a recorded
line.
i wait for all
the small talk to go away,
for an agent to come on the phone.
we can help you,
she says. she's kind, she's sweet,
compassionate in her
predatory way.
how much do you owe?
i don't know, i tell her,
you called me. I was hoping you knew.
what's your name?
you don't know? i ask her.
again, you called me.
we can help you pay off your
loan, she repeats.
but i don't have a student loan.
I've never had
a student loan. i finished
college thirty five years
ago.
perhaps you've heard of it.
Faber College.
they made a movie about it.
I spent the best seven years
of my life there.
well, she says, clicking a pen
against her desk.
is there anyone in your house
hold that has
an outstanding student loan.
a son, a daughter, a wife, or
relative?
let me check i tell her.
hold on.
i yell out across the house,
does anyone here have a student
loan?
my voice echoes back,
bouncing through the empty rooms.
there's no answer.
the dog barks.
wait, i tell the woman.
there's someone here who wants
to talk to you
about your payment plan.