could I be so hooked?
7) Going to school (before
my “condition” became
obvious) an outsider.
Knowing my old
friends and I had lost
all common ground.
6) Boredom. The succession
of little-to-do
days, stretching
longer and longer
toward the longest
day of the year.
5) Long letters from Chase.
USC was great.
The football team
was great. Los
Angeles was great.
Great enough
to call it home.
4) My dad’s silence. He did call
once, to confirm Linda
Sue’s tale. Then not
a word, as if not talking
about it could make
the “problem” disappear.
3) Losing Grandma, just when
I’d found her again.
A waterfall of flowers
brightened her funeral,