It's like this, cat

his leg and the bandages off. A few nights later I heard yowls coming up from the backyard. I went down and pulled him out of a

the morning he'll sit out on the front stoop with me. He sits on a pillar about s

a ball, as if he were going to spring. Of course, the poor dog never knows it was about t

and see Tom there, stroking Cat's fur up backward toward his ears. Tom is

hi!"

right way, gives him a pat, and sits down. "I j

e read you about ten lectures on Healthy Living, H

n he sits and stares out at

hat's the way I always have felt about mine. But your dad looks like a great guy to me,

t? You shou

he cellar trouble, all that. Then tell him I'm going to get a job and go to night school. Your dad figures probably

wn that crumb of a doorman on my bike, accidental on purpose, I didn

ne back to work at the coffee shop. I guess I'll go down and see

Hi' fo

So l

*

hopping around for various bits of fishing tackle and picnic gear we might need. We're going to this lake up in Connecticut, where we get a s

t, and Tom walks in. He nods at me like he hardly sees me and comes into the living room. He shakes hands l

n see a post-office stamp in red ink with a pointing

answer a

t does when he's about to blow. But he looks at Tom, and instead of

e married." Tom's voice trails off and he walks

don't waste too much breath on h

ood. She loafs around and drinks all

short silence, and Pop goes o

every spring. I even got one ear of corn once. We moved there when I was in second grade because my mom said it was near a good local school. I

the father Tom always talked down and hoped would measure up. Now it's like somebody has t

twitching. Finally he says, "Well, I steered you wrong. I

d, all right

of inadequate at a moment like this, but when Tom takes a

d Dad says, "When are you supposed to

up the filling-station job the

Board with you, and we'll see what we can all cook up. Don't worry too much. I have

en creeping up under the side table, playing the ambush game, and he launches himself at Tom ju

worry about," Pop say