"How did you do that?" she cried. laughing. Uncle Palaver shrugged.
"I didn't do anything," he said. "I saw it peeking out between your fingers. That's all."
For a while, we were all distracted. On the way home, he talked about his latest trip and some of the shows he and Destiny put on. They had been part of a variety show last week, and he said there were jugglers and acrobats like he had never seen.
"And there was this dog that could understand words. I swear. He knew colors, numbers. It was incredible. Now, that's magic." he told us.
"When am I ever going to meet Destiny?" Mama asked him.
"Oh, one of these days our schedules will coincide," he replied quickly.
"Maybe she's another one of Uncle Palaver's illusions," Brenda quipped.
Uncle Palaver laughed, but he sounded more nervous than usual.
It wasn't until we arrived at the house that Brenda actually asked after Daddy.
"He said he was stuck in court all day," Mama said. "We'll start dinner without him, because he could be very late," she added.
Brenda looked at me and then at Uncle Palaver, whose eyes told her he was worried about Mama.
"Well, not to worry." Brenda said. "We have Uncle Palaver. He could make Daddy appear whenever we want him to, right. Uncle Palaver?"
"Right, honey," he said. but I could see he didn't want to linger on that topic. "'What a game you played. I was very proud of you."
"Thanks." she said. She flashed a smile and headed for her room to change for our wonderful dinner. Maybe no one else could tell, but I could from the way she walked and held her shoulders and her head: pain and disappointment had won back their position in her heart and pushed anger away.
She was crying inside again. Drowning in her own sadness.
Mama's dinner was so good, however, that we were all somewhat restored. Just as she was about to bring out our dessert, we heard the garage door go up. Daddy was home. I think we were all holding our breath. It was truly as if the world were made of thin glass and could all shatter in a moment, raining shards down upon us.
Daddy appeared in the dining room doorway. I had been building my angry onslaught against him as well, but when I saw him, my darts suddenly lost their points, and my anger turned to fear and even sadness. I couldn't remember seeing him look so tired and so defeated.
"Hi, Matt." Uncle Palaver said quickly.
Daddy nodded. He looked at Mama a long moment, and then he looked at Brenda.
"How did the game go?"
"We won," she said without a smile.
"Good. At least there's one victory in the house," he replied.
"I kept everything warm for you. Matt," Mama said.
"It's all right," he told her. "I had something on the road with Jack. I've got some things to do," he added, and walked down the hallway toward his home office.
I was afraid to look back at Mama. Brenda had her eves down, burning holes in the table.
"He's just tired. I guess." Uncle Palaver said. "I know what it's like to be working and traveling. Cuts down on your appetite something awful. Why, I've had days when I've eaten barely enough to qualify for one meat"
"Maybe I need to be on the road. then," I muttered. "Daddy would like that."
When I looked up. I was surprised at how cold and steely-eyed Brenda was. She was glaring at me so hard it made me cringe.
"When you hate yourself," she said. "you'll end up hating everyone else as well. Don't let him do that to you."
I could barely swallow. I looked at Mama, whose eyes were drowning. She rose quickly and began to take dishes into the kitchen. Brenda and I got up and started to help clear the table.