"What made you go into it then?"
"My mother has a sister who had a child born deaf. My uncle was embarrassed by him,"
"Why?"
"He saw him as an indication of his own personal, manly failure. He had produced an imperfect child. He did nothing to help the boy, refused to spend money on special instructors or a special school. He had only the most basic help. My uncle even forbade my aunt from practicing signing with him, especially in front of other people. I remember thinking the child was like agbird with a broken wing, never able to fly. He was growing up wild, sort of like Helen Keller, in a way. You know about her?"
"Sure."
"Anyway, as a hobby almost. I studied signing and whenever I could, whenever my uncle wasn't around. I practiced it with my nephew and slowly began to teach him things. My aunt knew I was doing it, but said nothing, hoping my uncle would never find out. My nephew was almost as hungry for knowledge as Echo is and learned rapidly. His mental
development improved almost geometrically and he slowly began to develop social skills as well. By the time my uncle found out what I was doing, his son had become an honor roll student. It all took him by surprise and he could do nothing but accept the compliments. I knew then that I had a special gift for this and this was what I wanted to do with my life."
"What a wonderful story. How lucky you art."
"Yes," he said. He looked pensive and then a bit sad. I thought that was because he missed the work he had done.
"Couldn't your mother have found someone else to help her and leave you working at the school in Los Angeles?" I asked.
"No," he said sharply. "It's a family business, She needs me."
"It can't be more important than what you were doing."
He looked up at me. His eyes told me he agreed, but he shook his head. "Family," he said. "is more important."
"It seems selfish to me," I told him, refusing to be quiet about it.
He looked away. "I didn't exactly tell you the truth about Echo." he said after a moment of silence, during which I thought he was just going to get up and leave because I was so opinionated.
"What do you mean?"
"I mean. I told you the truth about the rock, but she pushes herself on me in ways."
"Pushes herself?"
"Physically, deliberately pressing her breasts against me, that sort of thing. I stop her, of course, but she's getting more and more aggressive about it and she is becoming a woman. It makes me
uncomfortable."
"She's going to be very pretty." I said.
"Yes. This is why I have to stop tutoring her and why I was so upset when Mrs. Westington brought you into their home to be her companion."
"Why? What did I have to do with it?"
"I thought it would prevent her even longer from permitting Echo to go to school. You're nice and you'd probably be a good companion, but it's not what she needs."
"Oh. You're probably right about that," I admitted.
"I won't leave before I help you," he promised. "You should get a high school diploma. You can't do much in this world without that at least and you might want to go on with your education."
"I don't know what I want. I just know I don't want to be me," I said, and he raised his eyebrows.
"Why would you say that?"
"Why? Look at me! Beside what's happened to me and my family. I'm not someone anyone would care about. I'm just a blob with eyes and a mouth."
"That's not true. Just lose some weight. Big, deal. You have a very pretty face." he said.