"Now, that's better. A smile puts sunshine into your face. Plant one there and happiness will bloom.'
"Okay, Mrs. Westington," I said. If someone as old as she was with what she's been through could still be jolly. I had no right to sing the blues in her home. I thought.
"Well now, get dressed," she said. "You can bet Echo didn't forget about our shopping excursion. She's already dressed and downstairs,'.
"She is?"
"She's out there helping Trevor clean up the station wagon, in fact."
Up and dressed? I thought. When did she leave my room? Did I really imagine it all?
I got out of bed, washed and dressed as quickly as I could. When I stepped into the dining room. I found Echo and Trevor seated and eating breakfast. Echo looked up at me and smiled, signing about our trip and telling me we were going to have lunch in a restaurant. I looked at Trevor and at Mrs. Westington. I wanted to ask Echo about her having a nightmare and coming to my bed. but I was afraid to do so in front of them. When we're alone I'll ask her. I thought, and left it at that.
Echo's excitement recalled my memories of my trips with my parents and Brenda when I was much younger. At fifteen I was already hanging out in malls and making trips on my own, of course, but before that, every family excursion was an adventure, a holiday, no matter how short.
After Echo and I helped clear the table and do the breakfast dishes, we got into the station wagon. Her excitement was so infectious she made me feel like it was my first trip away from home as well. Because of her confinement at the vineyard. Echo's face was filled with wonder at almost everything she saw. It brought home Tyler's concern that she be permitted to go to a school where she would be with other kids her age and have most of the experiences a zirl her age should have. She had a thirst for Imowledge, for information, and was moving quickly ahead in her schoolwork, but she was, as Tyler described, socially retarded.
"You stay close to April," Mrs. Westington warned her when we reached the mall. 'Don't you go wandering off. She could do that," she told me. She gets fascinated with something and forgets where she is."
"She needs to be out and about more. Mrs. Westington," I said gently. "She's too old to be on any sort of leash."
"Yes, well, that's what we'll do now, now that you're here with us." she told me.
But I won't be all that much longer. I thought to myself. I didn't like reminding her. but I could see that I had to leave soon. Brenda would be coming home and making plans for us, for me. I had to get on with my life, whatever life that would be.
At the mall I helped pick out some new clothes for Echo, clothing I knew was in style for girls her age. As I anticipated. Mrs. Westington was critical of almost everything, but reluctantly relented when she saw how pleased Echo was with the selections. We bought her bras and new panties, socks and new nightgowns as well. While we shopped. Trevor went off to get himself some things in the hardware store he said he needed.
At Mrs Westington's continued insistence. I finally relented and chose a new black skirt and a blouse. I hated having to buy anything in the sizes I needed now but I remembered Brenda once saying to wear black because it hides your weight the best. It had been a long time since I had bought anything for myself, actually. The last time was just before my mother had died and my mother never admitted to me or perhaps even to herself that I was a little tank. She hated when I chose things in black.
Echo's attention went from the clothing to the kids moving through the mall. She was fascinated by both the girls and the boys and asked me questions continually about them. How old were they? What did they do in the mall? Do they all know each other? We saw them in the music stores listening to their favorite artists on earphones. Of course. Echo wanted to know what they were doing and I explained that supposedly that was how they decided whether or not to buy an album.
"Most just go there to hang out and listen and don't even buy anything," I told her.
She looked at them again, watching how they shared what they heard, and for a moment I thought of a poor homeless girl standing outside a restaurant gazing in at people enjoying wonderful dinners. It was a world she wasn't to know, but a world she envied. I felt so sorry for her and for a while. I stopped feeling so sorry for myself. After all. I could fix my problems. She couldn't. She could only learn how to live with hers.
Suddenly, surprising us both. Tyler Monahan stepped around a large display in the music store. Echo's face lit up. Mrs. Westington didn't notice him because she had met another elderly lady whom she knew and they were having a long catch up
conversation.
Tyler turned in our direction. The first question that came to my mind was how could he be here? I thought he was desperately needed at his mother's retail outlet on weekends. There was no doubt in my mind that he had seen us, but he didn't wave or smile or walk toward us. He turned instead and hurriedly headed out of the store. Echo panicked at the realization he was not going to greet us. As clearly as she could pronounce it, she shouted his name.
I knew he had heard. Other people near him had turned in our direction, but he kept walking away. Echo looked at me with desperation.
"We'll be right back. Mrs. Westington," I called to her. She glanced at us, but her friend kept talking,
"Don't get lost!" she cried.
I took Echo's hand and we started after Tyler. He was walking very quickly and not looking back. I started to shout for him again when he stopped at a woman's shoe store just as an Asian woman stepped out. I stopped walking. He spoke with her and she turned our way.
His mother was a good three to four inches shorter than he was. She had her hair cut stylishly short and she wore what looked to me to be an elegant light blue desimer suit. We were too far away to see much more detail, but I was sure. I saw her shake her head slightly. She then turned abruptly in the opposite direction. Tyler glanced back at us. I thought he was finally going to acknowledge us and greet us, but his mother called to him and he spun around quickly and hurried to join her.
"Ty!" Echo shouted.
They rounded the corner and were gone. Echo looked at me, her face full of confusion.
"He must have had to get right back to his store," I signed and spoke. I didn't do all that good a job of signing the ideas, but she understood enough.
She looked after him again. How cruel. I thought, no matter what he thought of me or what his reasons could be. He couldn't help but see how excited Echo was at the sight of him. Even if he really did have to get back to their business, why wouldn't he take a few minutes out to explain that at least? What, did his mother have a leash around his neck or something? It made me furious.