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Dad orders chicken noodle soup to go with his coffee The waitress nods and goes away She looks distracted She’s probably worrying about the i snowstoring over the counter, assures us is due at any moment

"So," I say "The bus" For soan Freeman’s ride to freedouess it isn’t too surprising Morgan Freeman had been a prisoner, too "Isn’t that like a parole violation? I mean, for you to leave the state of Florida?"

"Don’t worry about s under control For a change"

"Great," I say "That’s great, Dad"

"So what do you hear from your mother?" he wants to know I notice that he doesn’tmore half and half to his coffee

"Well," I say, "you mean since she took off for Buenos Aires with the contents of my bank account? Not a whole heck of a lot"

Dad purses his lips and shakes his head Now he makes eye contact "I’m sorry about that, Heather," he says "You can’t kno much Your mother isn’t like that I don’t knohat could have coood idea," I say, as the waitress cos into his soup like it’s his first food of the day For such a skinny guy, he has a pretty good appetite "What’s that?"

"Hercontract," I say

"Oh, now, Heather," Dad says, looking up from his soup "Don’t say that Yourwo your money, I mean I’m positive that Ricardo character put her up to it"

And I’m positive it was the other way around, actually, but I don’t say so, because I don’t feel like getting into an argument about it

"How about you?" I ask instead "Have you heard from her?"

"Not in quite some time," Dad says He opens one of the packs of crackers that caiven the way I let her down, I don’t suppose I deserve to"

"I wouldn’t beat yourself up over that one, Dad," I say, feeling that twinge in e is actually north of my stomach It’s more in the vicinity of my heart And it appears to be pity "She hasn’t exactly been Miss Parent of the Year herself"

Dad shakes his head over his soup "Poor Heather," he says, with a sigh "When they were handing out parents up in heaven, you certainly got the short end of the stick"

"I don’t know," I say, surprised to find ht for ot a job, and a nice place to live, and…well, I’ my BA"

Dad looks surprised…but pleasantly so "Good for you!" he says "At New York College?"

I nod "I get tuition reh my job," I explain "I have to take this re real courses, but--"

"And what are you going to study?" Dad wants to know His enthusiasm about the subject takesmusic You’ve always been so very talented"

"Uh," I say "Actually, I was thinking more of criminal justice"