|Staring Me In The Face 4

Love it.

Me too. Settled then? he asked and smiled his soft smile.

It didnt surprise me that I nodded.

After the reading and the curry^{1 dinner, I went into Malcolms sitting room where there were more books than Id ever seen on anyones shelves. I began to read the titles.}

Help yourself, said Malcolm.

Thanks. But if I read a book, I have add it to my collection.

Strange, same here. He waved his arms towards the shelves. But look where its got me.

Id hate to be without books. Theyre ... friends.

That sounds like lonely, said Malcolm.

I turned and pulled out a book.

Are you?

Am I what?

Lonely?

I shrugged^2.

Not really.

Not really but what?

My voice came from a distance as I tried to answer him.

Im choosy about my friends. Dont have a great many.

Im listening, said Malcolm and sat down, indicating the armchair opposite him.

My childhood was ... I mean, my mother loved moving around. She had no trouble putting down roots all over the place. I hated it! Books were the constant things, so I buried myself in them.

Hell, sounds familiar.

I sat down in the armchair.

I had very academic parents, said Malcolm. Was an afterthought, perhaps a mistake even. They loved me in their vague intellectual way but left me alone to get on with growing up. Hence the books.

Thats lonely, too, I said.

When I left, I took along a couple of Malcolms books.

My friendship with Malcolm grew but my curiousity remained. Who did I remind him of? My mother? If so, could he be my father? Although Mom had never bothered with books, our physical similarities, apart from my tallness, were undeniable. She had never told me much about the man who had fathered me. Clever, was all she had usually said. once though, when I had been ill with chicken pox, and hot and scratchy, she had relented.

What was he like?

Skinniest man you ever saw.

Whered you meet him?

In a park. I was catching^{3 a suntan and these papers started blowin in my face. I was a bit cheesed off at them blowin all over me and then this man comes runnin. He grabbed4 and grabbed but couldnt catch them all. So he jus stood still, a helpless look on his face. It was so funny, I started laughin.}