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"But there's no moon this week," I said

"There's starlight," she said

I went to the store and bought her soht, I could hear her pull the rustling noise

Once I tried to mow the lawn

"No" Mom stood in the door "Put the moay"

So the grass went threeDad cut it when he came home

She wouldn't letthe electrical breakfastup, as if for Christ, and always s over him, happy

No, she never talked of hi to make a contact across the millions of miles He said once, "If I called you, I'd want to be with you I wouldn't be happy"

Once Dad said to me, "Your mother treats me, sometimes, as if I weren't here--as if I were invisible"

I had seen her do it She would look just beyond him, over his shoulder, at his chin or hands, but never into his eyes If she did look at his eyes, her eyes were covered with a filht times, and smiled, but always a half second later than expected

"I'm not there for her," said Dad

But other days she would be there and he would be there for her, and they would hold hands and walk around the block, or take rides, with Moirl's behind her, and she would cut off all the mechanical devices in the kitchen and bake hi deep into his face, her smile a real smile But at the end of such days when he was there to her, she would always cry And Dad would stand helpless, gazing about the roo it

Dad turned slowly, in his uniform, for us to see

"Turn around again," said Mom

The nextinto the house with handfuls of tickets Pink rocket tickets for California, blue tickets for Mexico