杰儿·W.马努斯/
, ''sbecauseofme, .
She'ddroppedoutofcollege, andI''dbeenanunstablecloudofgasolinefumes, 'dfoughtaboutherjob, aboutleavingschool, 'dcriedalotandrebuffedallmyattemptstocomforther.
“I'mtwenty, almost,”she'dtoldmesooftenthatmyteethached.“Iamanadult!”
EachtimeIsilentlyreplied, No, , andexpectmetodoyourlaundry, andaskmetopickuptoothpasteforyouwhenIgotothegrocerystore.
Nowsheisgone, offtobeanadultfarawayfromme.I'mgladshe'', tiredofhertantrums.
'thelpedherbuythetruck, 'salie.
“Iamnevercomingback,”shetoldme.“I'.”
Whathadshebeendoingfortwentyyears?Existinginsuspendedanimation?
''ssneakedintothetruck, goneoffwithmydaughteronanadventurefromwhichIamforbidden.
, out-of-datecosmetics, hairinthesink, !Somegrown-up!Shecan'tevenpickupafterherself.I''twanttolivewithme, doesn'twanttobemybabygirlanymore, .
, facecream, , mousse, bodywash, , , itisassterileandimpersonalasamotelbathroom.
, , admiringhighscoresontestsandreadinghername, , -upspayforstorage.
, SweetValleyHigh, , Baby-sittersClub, Shakespeare, TheOdysseyandTheIliad, romancenovels, ;, , Icramthemontoasinglebookshelftodealwithlater.
'-uplifeprovestoohardandshecomescrawlingback, shecanstayinthebasementorsleeponthecouch.
, sweaters, leggings, andshoesshehasn'twornsinceseventhgradearecrammedintogarbagebags.
?Totreatwhatsheowns-whatIpaidfor-assomuchtrash?No, sheleftthismesstothumbhernoseatme, aspaybackfortreatingherlikethechildsheis.
“Falala, Mom, Iamofftoconquertheworld, .”
:oneforGoodwill, theothertrash.
