tonight.
âNo, Mom. Iâm fine. I had a little fight with Keisha, thatâs all.
âIâm sure you two will work it out. Sheâs such a nice young lady. I think sheâs been real good for youâhelping you through the difficult times of the last few months.
âIâm surprised you noticed. Youâre right. She was probably the best thing that coulda happened to me. I didnât deserve her. Thatâs why I lost her.
âNo, donât talk like that. You deserve the very best that life has to offer. As time goes on, and we learn to put that âunfortunate incidentâ behind us, youâll find that your life will be full of wonderful opportunities, as well as lots of wonderful girls like Keisha.
âI wish youâd quit callinâ it âthe unfortunate incidentâ! It wasnât an âincidentâ! It was a crash! A terrible, terrible crash! And it was my fault! You need a dose of reality, Mom. You want to pretend it didnât happen and I canât deal with this by myself.
âYouâre right, Andy. The reality hurts. I guess my way of dealing with it is to hide from it.
âIâve tried hidinâ, runninâ, even dreaminâ. Nothinâ works. Hey Mom, do you remember when I was nine, and we went on vacation to South Carolina?
âSure. It was one of the nicest we ever went on.
âYeah, if I remember, you even got in the water and let your hairdo get all messed up. I think thatâs probably the first, and last time, that I ever saw you without a âproperâ hairdo.
âWell, I try to keep myself looking good.
âOh, how well I know.
âSo why did you bring up that vacation? Does it remind you of a time when things were better?
âNot really. Somethinâ happened on that vacation that I never told you âbout.
âWhat? What do you mean? What makes you bring it up now?
ââCause the way I felt then is the way I feel tonight.
âI donât follow.
âDo you remember that boy in the next cabin? He was about twelve, and we played on the beach together every day.
âVaguely. Yes, now that you mention it. I remember you playing with an older boy quite a bit.
âWell, on the night before we were to leave for home, he and I sneaked out to see if we could catch crabs on the beach in the moonlight. You and Dad were asleep.
âKeep going.
âWell, we couldnât find any crabs, so we decided to go wadinâ in this little pool of water that had collected near some rocks on the beach.
âA tide pool?
âYeah, I guess thatâs what it was. Anyway, it was a lot deeper than we thought it was, so we were goinâ to go back before our parents noticed that we were gone, when I slipped.
âOh my goodness! Then what happened?
âIt was dark, so I couldnât see, and I was under the water, so I couldnât breathe. I tried to scream, but water got into my mouth and my throat and my chest. I was cryinâ out for help, but my cries only made things worse. Thatâs how I feel tonight, Mom. Thatâs exactly how I feel tonight.
âSo how did you get out of there? Why didnât you tell us?
âThat kid pulled me out, dried me off, and hit me on the back until I stopped coughinâ and started breathinâ normally again. Then he made me promise never to tell what happened, or he would find me and beat me up. I was just glad to be out of there, so I crept back into bed, and never said a word. I figured the kid wouldnât have to beat me upâyouâd kill me if you had found out. But youâre missinâ my point. I didnât bring his up to tell you about a dump stunt I pulled when I was nine. Iâm trying to explain how I feel tonight.
âWell, this is quite a revelation. Youâre right. I probably would have punished you. No doubt about it. And I want to help you now, Andy, but I donât know how. I just
âNo, Mom. Iâm fine. I had a little fight with Keisha, thatâs all.
âIâm sure you two will work it out. Sheâs such a nice young lady. I think sheâs been real good for youâhelping you through the difficult times of the last few months.
âIâm surprised you noticed. Youâre right. She was probably the best thing that coulda happened to me. I didnât deserve her. Thatâs why I lost her.
âNo, donât talk like that. You deserve the very best that life has to offer. As time goes on, and we learn to put that âunfortunate incidentâ behind us, youâll find that your life will be full of wonderful opportunities, as well as lots of wonderful girls like Keisha.
âI wish youâd quit callinâ it âthe unfortunate incidentâ! It wasnât an âincidentâ! It was a crash! A terrible, terrible crash! And it was my fault! You need a dose of reality, Mom. You want to pretend it didnât happen and I canât deal with this by myself.
âYouâre right, Andy. The reality hurts. I guess my way of dealing with it is to hide from it.
âIâve tried hidinâ, runninâ, even dreaminâ. Nothinâ works. Hey Mom, do you remember when I was nine, and we went on vacation to South Carolina?
âSure. It was one of the nicest we ever went on.
âYeah, if I remember, you even got in the water and let your hairdo get all messed up. I think thatâs probably the first, and last time, that I ever saw you without a âproperâ hairdo.
âWell, I try to keep myself looking good.
âOh, how well I know.
âSo why did you bring up that vacation? Does it remind you of a time when things were better?
âNot really. Somethinâ happened on that vacation that I never told you âbout.
âWhat? What do you mean? What makes you bring it up now?
ââCause the way I felt then is the way I feel tonight.
âI donât follow.
âDo you remember that boy in the next cabin? He was about twelve, and we played on the beach together every day.
âVaguely. Yes, now that you mention it. I remember you playing with an older boy quite a bit.
âWell, on the night before we were to leave for home, he and I sneaked out to see if we could catch crabs on the beach in the moonlight. You and Dad were asleep.
âKeep going.
âWell, we couldnât find any crabs, so we decided to go wadinâ in this little pool of water that had collected near some rocks on the beach.
âA tide pool?
âYeah, I guess thatâs what it was. Anyway, it was a lot deeper than we thought it was, so we were goinâ to go back before our parents noticed that we were gone, when I slipped.
âOh my goodness! Then what happened?
âIt was dark, so I couldnât see, and I was under the water, so I couldnât breathe. I tried to scream, but water got into my mouth and my throat and my chest. I was cryinâ out for help, but my cries only made things worse. Thatâs how I feel tonight, Mom. Thatâs exactly how I feel tonight.
âSo how did you get out of there? Why didnât you tell us?
âThat kid pulled me out, dried me off, and hit me on the back until I stopped coughinâ and started breathinâ normally again. Then he made me promise never to tell what happened, or he would find me and beat me up. I was just glad to be out of there, so I crept back into bed, and never said a word. I figured the kid wouldnât have to beat me upâyouâd kill me if you had found out. But youâre missinâ my point. I didnât bring his up to tell you about a dump stunt I pulled when I was nine. Iâm trying to explain how I feel tonight.
âWell, this is quite a revelation. Youâre right. I probably would have punished you. No doubt about it. And I want to help you now, Andy, but I donât know how. I just
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