OCR Text |
Show in my father's house/ 326 Rapid-fire, I shot questions about the school, the teachers, herself. I pretended to be a complete stranger to the city. I knew somehow that my words were building a wall, but I could not stop mortaring them in place, question upon question professing me alien to all that we might have shared. Although I could sense brightness and gentility in her, there was a piercing quality in her eyes that threatened me. She wanted to know about me, about my family. I could not discern the quality of her curiousity. Was it directed at me or at my family? For what reason? Much later, I was to realize that if it had not been for my strong defense against the forbidden topic, we might have become good friends. Among the people I met at school that first day was a boy who was kicking his locker shut when my neighbor stopped to introduce us. The angry, vengeful attitude of his kick repelled me, but when he turned and looked me full in the face, I felt dizzy as every cell of my body registered his presence. I felt that I had known him for a long, long time. His name was Brian. "Mmmm," he said approvingly, looking me over. "There she is. The love of my life." I flushed but could not take my eyes off his own, translucent blue. "You say that to all the girls." "No," he shook his head, his smile gone. "no I don't." When we parted for class, I walked through the halls, thinking of him. My mind pictured his face, and alongside, my father's stern-smiling visage. Although I had all but lost touch with Jeanne and my other group of friends, I no longer resented my father |