![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
(no subject)
Jun. 10th, 2005 06:35 pmThe next day was full of activity.
Not for the boys, who were to spend the entirety of it up in their rooms. They were sanctioned against doing much of anything but read. They were not to ever watch television, but they were given no reason for this.
David peeked out now and then to see his father or mother on the phone or the computer. They were working feverishly. He even noticed a laser sharp focus from his mother that he had never, in memory, experienced before.
His mother had always had that “Glass Menagerie” fragility that made her so solitary and sad to spend time with. When he was given the play to read last year he was actually struck by the fact that the playwright could have based a character on his mother, without taking his father into account, because he was anything but the Gentleman Caller. And having never met any grandparents on either side, he couldn’t compare any of them to the mother in the play.
He had been glad to get back to comic books were the good guys usually won.
When David looked out, he was struck by the closeness that seemed to exist between his parents. They seemed closer in the midst of all this than he had seen them in a while.
There was no doubt that his parents loved each other as well as they loved their children. But today David saw them as partners. The idea really made him smile.
Both boys fell asleep amidst the sandwiches their father brought to their rooms. The time was late and their parents had yet to finish whatever it was they were putting together.
When, at one point, Mickey had asked why they were still making calls after Midnight, his mother said, “Overseas calls are in different time zones.”
Overseas calls? His mother hated to call downtown, much less Europe or Japan.
But, when the food had been eating, and the books had been read and the voices still wafted up the stairs, the boys began to lose the battle with sleep.
David moved across the hall to his room, but Mickey fell asleep in the midst of deli wrappers, with his play clothes still on.
David slipped off his shoes and looked in on Harold. After making sure the pet had enough of food and drink to get him through the day and night, David gave up and lay on his bed.
His last thoughts were about if their mother was going to join them when they went to meet Vane tomorrow.
Then he had that jumble of ideas that would have made no sense at any other time than just before sleep. He then went to sleep.
His parents did not sleep that night at all.
They feared that this might be their last chance of saving their child, and sleep was not precious to them.
