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Show Pepperrrir.T Monday She had the worry lines around her eyes. I hadn't seen those since Russ had died. This was hard for her. Ma always had to take over for pa when things got real hard. "Where else would we go?" Jason's color had drained from his face. I think mine had too because I felt sick inside. I couldn't leave Gainesville. I couldn't leave Andrea and Grandma Ruby. There was nowhere else I would fit in. There was nowhere else I wanted to go. "Chicago," pa said simply, only this was not a simple problem. Chicago was ma's dream, it was not mine. I didn't want to move to a city where it was too crowded to take walks with your brother. There wouldn't be acres of wild flowers or the blue haze of the Ozarks above us. It would never be home. "What about a job?" I had to hand it to Jason. I was just sitting here while my world crashed around me. Jason was pointing out the logic of staying here. "Your pa has a job offer there. A much better one. He can teach at Northwestern University. Anthropology even. He won't have to worry about health or literature." "Or crepe paper flowers," pa added with a smile. "How did you get a job just like that? Don't these things take time?" I was being logical now. I had a feeling it was too late for logic though. It had all been worked out. "It hasn't happened just like that. I saw that there was an opening a few months ago. I applied just to see what would come of it. The department head remembered me from when I had taught there before. He wants me back again." Pa had a gleam in his eyes that I hadn't seen in a long time. |
