try to reason with narc dad when he gets mad out of nowhere, or ignore him and treat him as if nothing happened?

For context i’m a 23 yo female, my parents are divorced, means i don’t really see my dad much bc he lives in a different state, so most communication is through text or calls. (he’s the kind that told a 10 year old that the phone works both ways)

Sometimes we have a good streak of communication and he’s nice and asks about my day and tells me about his, but the thing is, i have to be communicating with him constantly throughout the day, every day and it can be exhausting because as soon as i forget to reply to his text, or accidentally miss a call he flips out, and gets angry, tells me to think about what i’ve done, that i don’t care about him, or flat out accuses me of hiding something or lying to him.

A lot of times i try to defend myself and try to keep it peaceful for my own sake, because i feel anxiety every time i know he’s mad at me, i can’t help it but feel affected even though i know he’s wrong, but he never accepts it when i argue back he just says “forget it”. Sometimes i just ignore him and talk to him normally the next day and although it does work most times, im afraid if i ignore him enough times he will just cut me off and give me the silent treatment for months like he’s done before (6 months to be exact) So how do you think i should i continue to approach this?