BEFORE WE ALL GOT TO bed. Ran kept falling asleep, but he still managed to eat three sandwiches. But I think both Mom and I were so glad that some of the wall that had grown up between us was (maybe) coming down that we kind of wanted to keep on hanging out, even if it was a school night. I tried not to flinch when Mom patted Val’s hand or he put his arm briefly around her, when he said something quietly in her ear that made her giggle as she was peeling carrots at the sink, when she dropped a kiss on the top of his head after he sat down while she was setting the plate of sandwiches on the table (lettuce, cheese, and tomato or peanut butter, bean sprout and carrot—the second a house specialty, and I made them because I knew how to squish the sprouts and the grated carrots into the peanut butter so they didn’t all fall out again). They’ve been married less than two months, I told myself. I also told myself: and this is the way they are when I’m not around. I tried not to startle when Val turned toward me a little too quickly (for me: I don’t think he was turning quickly), as if he was one of his own shadows.
