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"He prefers his loneliness," she said "All in all, Malcolht It was better this way"

I crossed my arms "Let me tell you about Malcolm"

And so I told e of state" and all that followed I told her everything he’d told , she didn’t say a word

We rode the horses back to the stable -- walking first, then breaking into a trot, then a gallop I hung on to the saddle, afraid I’d be thrown off, but I ed to hold my seat My mother and Osceola flew ahead of rooave Johnny a good-night kiss on his neck

Finally she spoke "I’ out Want to co lot was full, and my mother had to park the pickup on the street We walked toward a long white building with a neon sign in areading FLO’S PLACE

Inside, the tables all were occupied, and the bar had standing room only The bartender called out, "Hey, Sara!" Mãe stopped here and there to say hello as we made our way toward a corner booth

Dashay sat with aso red My mother slid into the booth, and I sat on the end

Dashay said, "Ariella, this is Bennett He’sgrip and a beautiful smile "I like your hat," I said

"Hear that? She likes the hat," he said "Dashay’s always telling me to take off the hat Lose the hat, she says"

"Do you have a boyfriend?" Dashay asked me

"Sort of," I said

"What’s he like?"

"He’s quiet," I said "He has long hair" I wondered if my mother had a boyfriend

She looked at lasses of Picardo, and lass in a toast "To justice," she said Dashay and Bennett looked puzzled, but they drank

I took a sip Picardo was an acquired taste; this ti When I looked around, I noticed thatPicardo, too Here and there I saw a beer or a glass of white wine, but the glasses of red liquid were twice as prevalent "Why is al?"

"Creatures of habit," Mãe said

"What makes it so red?" I asked

"Supposed to be a secret recipe," Bennett said

"I read somewhere that the color colass up, and rays frolow

"Very appetizing" My mother hadn’t smiled once since our talk, and it made me realize how often she had, before "Ariella, I need to talk to these friends You’re welcos we’ve been talking about for hours Or, you can play the jukebox" She dug into her pockets and pulled out a handful of change

I didn’t want to hear the stories again In any case, I hadto do I took thered, purple, and yellow monster of a machine The only one I’d seen before was at the soda shop in Saratoga Springs, and this one was three tis’ titles was faht, Maudlin Street" by Morrissey; "Marooned on Piano Island" by the Blood Brothers; "Lake of Fire" by the Meat Puppets; "Spook City USA" by the Misfits I fed the an, it wasn’t any one of the songs I’d picked, but a country song about a ring of fire Everyone in the bar seemed to know it; they all came in on the chorus, except for my mother and her friends, deep in conversation in the corner booth

I sat on a stool next to the jukebox, and looked at the others, who glanced at me from time to time Were they all vampires? Or did this little corner of Florida sies?

They looked like "norht and skin color, they wore mostly casual clothes Two men wore mechanics overalls, and one couple wore suits It could have been any small-town bar, except for the preponderance of red drinks, and the songs on the jukebox -- and, it now occurred to ht

As I watched the crowd at the bar -- the server ulars, the bartender sang and sipped fro in his green leather chair, drinking his evening cocktail, alone I wondered what color shirt he earing And, although I was tired of thinking about his past, it began to replay in , even before I could talk ave me a picture book called Can You Spot the Six Differences? Of course I couldn’t read the title, but I grasped the concept instantly: two nearly identical drawings (featuring animals and space aliens, usually) sat side by side, only sht be subtly altered; a cat’s tail or a shadow h I couldn’t say what the differences were, I could point to theht of my father’s story, and my mother’s, the differences between them stood out in sharp relief Of all the discrepancies, the detail that bothered me most concerned Dennis -- that he had closed the door of Malcolm’s car I kne much my father trusted Dennis, depended on his loyalty

I made a decision: it was time for me to call home

In the phone booth at the rear of Flo’s, near the rest roos and dropped in the requisite coins I had no idea what I’d say when he answered

But the nu A recorded voice told ed ain I didn’t need to check the listing, but I dialed the nu