Blue Moon by Luanne Rice

Author:Luanne Rice [Rice, Luanne]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781101640838
Publisher: Penguin Group US
Published: 1993-09-01T04:00:00+00:00

16

Thank you for coming,” Cass said, leading Zach to the kitchen table. “We could have come to you.”

“I generally work at hospitals and in people’s homes. I think learning in a familiar environment puts people, especially children, at ease,” Zach said. Then he broke into a wide grin. “Besides, I don’t have an office yet.”

“Did you just graduate?”

“I finished my master’s last summer.”

Cass poured two cups of tea and set out milk, sugar, and a plate of Bonnie’s brownies. Zach sat across the table. He looked so eager, ready to dive right into the tea, or anything else she put in front of him.

“Josie’s been seeing a speech therapist for a while now,” Cass said. “An older woman. She doesn’t encourage using sign language.”

“Conformity is a standard goal of the old school,” Zach said. “’Don’t stand out, be just like everyone else.’ Like the old days, when they used to train lefties to write with their right hands.”

“I want my kids to stand out, but I don’t want them to feel uncomfortable. Or to feel set apart,” she said, thinking how “set apart” and “freakish” meant the same thing to her father. And maybe even to her.

“That’s how Josie feels now: set apart. Our goal is to reverse that.”

“She’s in her room,” Cass said, rising.

“I’d like to work alone with Josie today, if you don’t mind,” Zach said. “It’s very helpful for the family to become involved, but first Josie and I have to get comfortable with each other.”

“I want to learn the gestures, so I can know what she’s saying.”

“They’re not gestures, Mrs. Medieros. What Josie is about to learn is a language. A complicated language, like English or French.”

“I never got past French two in high school,” Cass said, leading Zach upstairs to Josie.

“Neither did I,” Zach said.

With his father back in town and the truck parked out front in the driveway, T.J. was back on two wheels. He and Alison would sit together on the school bus home, and the second T.J. got off, he’d hop on his bike and ride up Marcellus to meet her again. All T.J. could think of was Alison.

Today some strange car was parked on the street in front of his house. He walked inside and found his mother standing at the foot of the stairs, looking up.

“Hi, honey,” she said. She seemed really happy to see him. The nicer his mother was to him lately, the more uncomfortable T.J. felt. What he and Alison shared was their miserable families, and the last few days his mother had been messing it up.

“Hey,” T.J. said, heading for the kitchen. She followed him.

“I am so glad you’re home. Zach’s upstairs with Josie, and I’m dying to horn in. But I’m supposed to give them a little time alone. How was school?”

“Crappy. Who’s Zach?”

“The new speech therapist.”

“Oh, yeah. The sign-language dude.”

“Why was school bad? Did something go wrong?”

“Nothing particular.” T.J. dumped his books on the table and grabbed a brownie. He munched it as he looked in the refrigerator.

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