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Show Moon -196 like a jellyfish, and I just hang there waiting for the good things to come along. Out of the swarm of words a good story sometimes coalesces and swims upward like angel fish. One of these stories she told me last night after I talked to Josh. I thought she'd gone to bed, but she came back into the livingroom saying she had to tell me one more thing about David. She told me that after my mother married James and I was newly born, David forced his way into the house to see me, pushing right past Ruth, who'd tried to stop him. He lifted me out of my crib and held me and cried. He was probably drunk. Even so, I wish my mother had told me that. My mother did tell me once that David was her art teacher, and he was hard on her. He'd take the stick of charcoal from her hand and slash across her work, cover it with circles. "He wanted everything to be round," she said. "He wanted me to draw bigger than life, and, you know, I think he was right. I understand that now." What, I wonder, did she understand? Did she mean, "Life isn't as big as we'd hoped, so we need artists to give us back something bigger than we are."? Or did she mean, "A circle is the shape of life, no matter what you think you see."? One other thing she said about him: "He was arrogant and handsome, but underneath he was afraid." I sit awhile, rehearse, before I dial the number Gloria has given me. I think I have a speech worked out that won't frighten him. The man has a nice voice, a little sleepy. I cough a little and say, "I hope I'm not calling too early, but I'm only going to be here another day. My name is Joy Wright." "Who?" "I think I'm your daughter." |