Girl in the Shadows (Shadows 2)

"It wasn't like that. He drank privately. Alcoholism is a sickness."

"Do you drink, too?"

"No," I said, practically shouting. He looked skeptical. "I don't. and after I've seen what it can do to someone. I doubt I'll ever get anywhere close to that, and before you ask. I don't do drugs either."

He grimaced skeptically. "How can you just drive in here and move in with people you don't know?"

I took a deep breath. Why was this so important to him?

"Mrs. Westington was kind enough to care about me. I really am trying to be as much of a help to her and to Echo as I can be."

He stared, considering me, his face although handsome, cold and unrevealing,

"Well, I suppose if you're going to be here a while you really should learn how to sign. I'll help you with that, too. when I can." he said. relenting. "You have the ASL book here. right?"

"Yes, I've begun to study it. Thank you for agreeing to help me."

"It's for her," he countered quickly, nodding at Echo. She certainly doesn't need an added burden."

What a strange young man. I thought. He could sound friendly one moment and unfriendly the next.

"I don't intend to be any sort of added burden nor will I make her life any more difficult.-' I said.

"Good intentions are not always enough.'

"Maybe they're not, but they're a good start," I shot back at him.

He nodded, finally offering a small smile. 'Okay. Perhaps you won't be as difficult a case as I thought. Who knows? I might even enjoy tutoring you. I might enjoy the challenge."

Did I dare smile back? Was he being sincere or sarcastic when he called me a challenge? How hard it had become to trust anyone's smile. I thought. Sometimes a smile was just another mask hiding the truth.

Neither of us had realized that while we were talking. Echo had been reading his lips. She signed something quickly and he signed back. Then they both looked at me and laughed.

"What's so funny?" I asked.

"She said she could be your tutor, too, by helping you learn "

"And what did you tell her that made her laugh?"

"I told her I doubted you were as good a listener as she was."

"Oh, that's very funny," I said.

"Exactly," he said. shrugging. "It's very funny."

He reported our conversation to Echo and they both laughed again. I stared at them a moment and then I laughed as well. I wasn't going to let him think he had hurt my feelings in any way. I wouldn't give him the satisfaction. That pleased Echo and he even smiled.

"I'm glad you have a sense of humor at least,' he said. And I thought perhaps we would be all right.

Perhaps.

2 Silent Conversations

. I sat as quietly as I could and continued to observe how Tyler used different methods to communicate his instructions and comments to Echo. At times, he relied more on lipreading than the signing. He would speak slowly and exaggerate the formation of his lips. Only as an absolute last resort did he write something and have her read it.

While she worked quietly on problems, he wrote things in his notebook or sifted through textbooks to mark places he wanted her to read. He looked my way occasionally but said nothing. Perhaps he was hoping I would soon get bored and leave, but his patience with her and her obvious determination to please him intrigued me. At times they communicated with each other as if there were invisible wires between them. The movement of an eyebrow, the twist of a lip, or even a small nod was quickly translated and understood. It made me consider how often we speak to each other through posture and gesture. Words were almost unnecessary between them anyway, lipreading or not.

Finally however, he reached that point in his schedule when he worked on her speech. I saw that previously he had given her a list of words to practice and now asked her to take it out of her notebook and begin.