“No. Let’s see. Where was I? Ten years ago I was in college. Glad I wasn’t here that day.”
“I know. What an awful day that was for our country.”
“No argument,” I quietly agreed. “And then what?”
“They drove us all around Wall Street and the financial district to look at things—quite a busy place! They took us to lunch and then put us on a boat to go over to the Statue of Liberty. I’ve never seen so much water in my life!”
“She’s quite a lady, isn’t she?” Kyle said, referring to the Statute of Liberty.
“Somehow I had pictured it as bigger. It looked so small when you see it in person.”
“I know what you mean,” I agreed. “The first time I saw it, that was my exact reaction.”
“But don’t get me wrong. It was still really nice to get to see it up close like that. Some of the group climbed all the way to the top, but I couldn’t do that. I couldn’t go inside like that.” The woman shuddered in displeasure.
“Not a fan of small spaces?”
“I’m a farm girl from the heartland. If it’s not wide open, it just doesn’t feel right to me.”
“Fair enough.” I nodded.
While we were eating our salads, Kyle’s mother asked the question that hadn’t been broached yet. “So, Joseph, how do you know my son?”
Playing along, I said, “How did we meet? We met at the gym. We just struck up a conversation, and we never seem to run out of things to talk about, so we just keep on going! He’s really smart, so it’s a lot of fun to talk with Kyle.”
“You got this one to talk?”
“Got him to talk? He never stops talking!”
“Kyle?” she asked incredulously.
“Yep, this one,” I said, patting Kyle’s leg in what I hoped was a convincingly masculine, bar-friendly way.
“He was always such a quiet boy. So what do you talk about that’s taking so long?”
“Politics, news, violence, beauty, travel, public policy, health care, international relations, books, movies…. Pretty much anything and everything.”
“Do you talk about God?” she asked.
“On occasion,” I answered simply. I did distinctly remember Kyle saying “Oh, God!” a few nights ago, so I thought that qualified as talking about God.
Surprisingly, Kyle’s mother did not follow up on that answer. “You going to church, baby?” she asked her son.
“You know I work long hours, Mama.”
“Don’t they observe the Lord’s day?”
“People get sick and injured regardless of the day of the week. And as the newest doctor, I work when they tell me to work. I actually like working the 7:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m. shift. I work hard, but then I get a couple of days off to sleep.”
Again, surprisingly, no follow-up. It was helped by the waiter coming up to clear our salad plates at that moment and another man delivering our entrées.
We ate in quiet for a few moments, exchanging only brief comments on our meals, all of which were wonderful.
Our waiter asked about dessert or coffee, but everyone declined the offer. Out of the blue, catching both of us off-guard, Kyle’s mother asked, “So, baby, when are you coming back home? We need doctors in our part of the world too. And I can’t wait to have you back home where you belong.”
After a moment of hesitation, Kyle looked at her and said, “I am home, Mama.”
She nodded but didn’t say anything. The three of us sat in uncomfortable silence for a moment. I wasn’t about to get into this conversation unless I was invited.
“Kyle, baby, I’m tired and I need to get back to the hotel. We’ve got a full day again tomorrow. I’m not used to these late nights out on the town.”
We escorted her out and into a cab, then rode along to take her back to her hotel. At her hotel before she got out, she looked at Kyle and said, “Tomorrow night they’re having a big banquet here for all of us Christian women. I’d like you to join me. They’re having a big speaker and everything.” Needless to say, I wasn’t the least bit surprised that she didn’t extend the invitation to me as well.
Kyle hesitated, but I gave him a small discreet nod of my head that told him I thought he should go. “All right. What time?”
“Some kind of social thing at seven with dinner at seven thirty. You people all eat so late here in the big city.”
“I get off work at seven, so I can be there about seven fifteen. Would that work?”
“Of course, baby. I can’t wait.”
“Night, Mama.”
The cab pulled away from the front of the hotel to take us home. Aside from the background big city noise and the occasional complaint from the cab driver about how others were driving, the inside of the cab was quiet. I reached out and placed my hand on my boyfriend’s and simply squeezed. We knew each other well enough by that point that no words were necessary. A simple touch conveyed simply, I’m here. You’re not alone. Lean on me.
At the apartment I paid the cab fare and then guided Kyle inside, where the man simply lay back on the couch with his arms wrapped around himself. It was clear he was deeply troubled. I changed clothes and then walked up behind Kyle and embraced him. I placed a single gentle kiss on the top of Kyle’s head and then left him to sort out things on his own.
While Kyle lay on the couch, I went into the kitchen for a minute so I could sort through the mail that had come in that day, throwing the junk mail into the trash, opening the bills, and giving everything else a split-second review and analysis. That task finished, I brewed some English Breakfast tea, which I poured over a glass of ice and took back into the living room to place
