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Show Moon - 41 come to see Anne before, and she stood at the door, unsure, for she'd not been alone with him since he'd left their parents' home. She said, "Where's Gloria?" "I came to see you," he said. "Aren't you going to ask me in?" He paused in front of Joy, who sat on the floor filling page after page with those endless curlicues she called letters. Around her were strewn drawings of birds and flowers. "Does she know who her real father is?" he said. "Hush," said Anne, drawing him quickly into the kitchen. "She doesn't know." "Forgive me. No one tells the truth in this family. I suppose James doesn't know either." Anne pressed her lips into a thin line. "You're hardly one to talk of truth. Of course he knows." She stood behind a chair and pressed her hands against it. Michael smiled out of the side of his mouth. The smoke from his cigarette made him squint. "A hero, James. You wait here for the hero to come home. You wait in a rathole and you wait for him to squash you under his boot." "What's wrong with you, Michael?" He stood close to Anne, one foot up on the chair she was leaning against. "Gloria drives me crazy," he said. "She talks too much." Anne moved to the sink and filled the kettle with water. "Til make some tea. I don't have any coffee." He sat down. "I'm unhappy," he said. Anne said nothing, put the tea in front of him. He helped himself to two spoonfuls of sugar, which he ought to know is rationed, she thought. "I'm unhappy," he said again. "You have a son," Anne said, "and a wonderful wife." |
