Into the Woods (DeBeers 4)

"No, Mommy." I said, actually becoming a bit frightened by her exuberance. Why wasn't she absolutely exhausted? Could fun and excitement really give someone this much energy? I think I was a little jealous. Maybe I was very jealous.

"Well, we didn't order anything even though Winston made it sound as though I could order anything from apple pie to veal Marsala. We just had an after-dinner drink. He likes black sambuca. I had never had it before. but I must say I enjoyed it.

"We just sat and talked and talked. He told me all about his marriage, how his wife had died, why they never had children, and mostly what it was like for him to be alone after being married far nearly forty years. We had a lot in common, actually, even though your father and I were married barely half that long. He was a lot more sensitive man than I expected."

"Daddy?"

"No, Winston. silly."

"Then what did you do?"

"We both looked up when the sun was rising, both of us just as surprised. We laughed at how we had ignored and forgotten about time itself. Naturally he kept apologizing to me, and he quickly called for the limousine. He only travels by limousine. He said he hasn't driven a car for twenty years! Can you imagine that?"

"No," I said "I don't think I'd want someone to be driving me about all the time."

"Of course you would. silly. You don't have any stress, and you can do other things. He was always a busy businessman, so he got a lot of work done while traveling. And he's been everywhere. Grace. Wait until you hear about the places he's been, the things he's seen."

"He couldn't have traveled more than Daddy," I said, now with an angry, sharp tone in my voice that made her wince,

"No, but it was a different sort of traveling from the traveling your father did. Grace. Your daddy was confined to his base or his ship, and he didn't visit grand hotels and wonderful restaurants and

beachfronts. He didn't go into the mountains of Europe and places like Eze in southern France. Monte Carlo. the Cote d'Azur, playgrounds for the rich and famous. It wasn't the same thing."

"I'd rather have done what Daddy did." I insisted,

She smiled at me as if I was still a child. "Of course," she said.

"I would. I don't need chauffeurs and

limousines and big houses!"

"Don't get yourself upset. Grace." "I'm glad you had such a wonderful time," I practically spat and marched away to my own room. After I closed the door I realized I had the coffee machine on What was there to do in my room now anyway except fume at the walls?

I went back to the kitchen and poured myself a cup of coffee. I considered having some breakfast, but my stomach was churning so much I thought I would just heave it all the moment I swallowed it. I looked up when Mommy appeared in her nightgown and robe.

"The coffee's made," I said.

"I think I'll just take a nap. Grace.'"

"A nap?"

"Well, it's starting to catch up to me," she said.

"How are you going to work tonight after staying out all night?" I said.

"I might take the night off. I'll call Dallas later and discuss it. Don't worry. I'll be fine if I just rest. Call me if you need me," she said, and went into her room, closing the door. I sat at the table, sipping my coffee and thinking about all she had told me. Maybe I was unfair. Maybe she deserved to enjoy herself a little. Maybe I was just a jealous child after all.

Just before noon there was someone at our door. Mommy was still fast asleep. so I hurried to it and faced a flower delivery man who had a box of long-stem roses.

"Jackie Lee Houston?" he asked me.

"No, that's my mother."

"Oh, well, this is for her," he said, and handed me the box.

I thanked him and took it and brought it to the table. There were three dozen mixed roses, white, red, and pink, and they looked as if they had just been cut. The stems and petals were still wet. I saw the card with it. Since the envelope wasn't sealed. I opened it and pulled out the card: "My apologies for forgetting time itself. Something not hard to do with you.-- Winston."

I shoved it back into the envelope and dropped it onto the box as if it had turned to fire. Then I went out for a walk around the complex, I settled at the pond and threw some bread crumbs to Quackie and Qucenie. After they gobbled them they remained there staring at me.