Taking her hand, he pulled her down to the grass in front of Patricia’s wheelchair.“Just okay?”
Pam folded her legs.“Just okay.”
“It’s the end of your senior year.You should be having the time of your life, partying up the kazoo.No?”
Pam managed a small smile and rolled her eyes.“No.”
“Why not?”
She shrugged.“I just want out.It’s all pretty boring.”
“Ahhh,” Bob drawled to Patricia, “the world-weary woman.We should only be back in her shoes.”
“I wouldn’t wish that on either of you,” Pam said with more force than she’d intended.She sighed.Resting her elbows on her thighs, she combed her-fingers through the grass in the circle between her legs.There was an apology in the eyes she raised to Bob’s.“Sorry.I shouldn’t have said that.”
“You felt it,” Bob said quietly.“I’m glad you said it.We all go through rough periods.Sometimes it helps to talk.”
Pam darted a quick look at her mother.
Bob leaned closer to Patricia so that his shoulder touched her knee.“You’re afraid of upsetting your mother.But she’s come a long way.Maybe it’s time we see what she can take.”He sought confirmation from Patricia, but she was looking at Pam.
After a very long moment and in a very soft voice, Patricia said, “Yes.”
It wasn’t exactly an inquiry into Pam’s feelings, but it did imply an interest, which was so much more than what used to be.Pam’s throat knotted up; she swallowed the tightness away and forced a self-conscious smile.“It’s no big thing, really.I’m just feeling down.School is unequivocally uninspiring.”
“Big words,” Bob mused.“Sounds like you’ve outgrown it.”
“Oh yes,” Pam said.She felt years older than her friends.The frivolity of graduation didn’t interest her in the least.
“When’s the big day?”he asked.
“The fourth of June.”
“Do you have anything special planned?”
Pam shrugged and pulled at the grass.“I’ve been invited to dinner with some of the other families after the ceremony, but—” She scrunched up her nose.
“Don’t want to?”
“Nah.”
Patricia’s voice was low.“John should do something.”
“Spare me that,” Pam said, but the attempted joke fell flat when tears came to her eyes.Blinking them away, she looked at her mother.“I wish you could come.”
Patricia pursed her lips and gave a short shake of her head.
“Then I’ll come out here afterward with a picnic lunch.”With a glance, she extended the invitation to Bob.She’d rather be with him than with John any day.“The three of us can celebrate.”
Again Patricia gave that quick shake of her head.
Pam didn’t push.She knew that Patricia still had problems.Bob explained that they had to do with security and real life, and while Pam didn’t see how a picnic lunch on the hospital grounds posed a threat, apparently Patricia did.And that was what mattered.
“Have you heard more from Swarthmore?”Bob asked.
Pam nodded.“They sent me health forms and questionnaires to fill out about what kind of roommate I wanted.I’d rather have a single room, but freshmen don’t often get that.”
“A double would be healthier.”
