Read Online See What I See by Gloria Whelan - Free Book Online Page B

night trees again. I pick up my brush.
    At midnight I’m awakened by a call from Justin. He’s been up late studying for a test. He tells me he’s in an advanced math class and has met two students there who have an old hunting cabin outside of town in the woods. He’s up there for the weekend. Porcupines gnaw on their cabin, deer graze on nearby fields, and yesterday they saw an eagle. On quiet nights they can hear the foghorn warning ships on Lake Superior. It’s like Justin and I are living in different countries. After I hang up, I decide I’ll get some cat food for the feral cat. I need something wild near me.

Chapter 7
    T wo weeks go by before I feel it’s safe to leave Dad for a couple of hours. It’s been like house arrest. I wish I could walk out the door into my beloved woods instead of into the city, but truthfully any change of scenery is welcome at this point. Stepping outside, I see the cat has rejected the food I set out. Why would it want to belong to someone when it can go its own way? I don’t blame it. In the mild October afternoon I wander in the direction of the convenience store. In front of the store I spot Thomas getting out of a car.
    â€œHow’s your dad?”
    I give him all the news and tell him about Erlita.
    â€œSo what are you doing?”
    â€œI’m out for a walk. Erlita says it’s all right to leave Dad for a couple of hours. I’m hungry for a little country, but I guess I’ll never find it here.”
    â€œMy head’s full of comparative anatomy and I could use a breather myself. Hop in—I’ll show you countryside.”
    He opens the car door, shoving aside a bird’s nest of books, newspapers, and empty coffee cups. The car coughs and hesitates and then does what it’s told. As we drive away, I see Emmanuel peering out the store window. And he’s frowning.
    â€œYour dad doesn’t look too pleased. Were you supposed to be doing something?”
    â€œNo. Nothing to worry about.”
    â€œMaybe he doesn’t approve of me.”
    â€œHe likes you . . . but he doesn’t like the combination of you and me. He thinks that I should be studying and that you’re not one of us.”
    â€œUs?”
    â€œChaldean.”
    â€œIsn’t that a narrow point of view?”
    â€œNot if you know my dad’s history. Dad came here from Iraq in the sixties, when he was just a boy, after Saddam killed his dad and his uncle. He’s never really recovered from that. He and his mother and grandparents were brought over by some relatives, but we still have family who left Iraq and are living in Lebanon and who desperately want to come here. It’s my duty to be successful and to make some money so we can help them like someone helped us. There’s no place in that plan for me to get diverted by girls who aren’t Chaldean.”
    â€œBut if your family has been here since the sixties . . .”
    â€œOh, we’re integrated, we’re part of the city’s multicultural mix and all that, but Dad has a lot of respect for the old traditions. He doesn’t want us to lose our identity. Anyhow, he’s got nothing to worry about, since the last thing I’m interested in is getting involved with someone.”
    So I’m warned. “Don’t you resent having to do what your family wants?”
    â€œNah. I’m happy studying medicine. The rest of the stuff I try not to think about.”
    â€œAt least you get to go to school.” My voice catches in my throat. I can’t help it.
    Thomas puts his hand on my shoulder and pats me like you would a kid. “Kate, I really admire what you’re doing. If it’s any comfort, your father doesn’t have long.”
    Strangely that’s no comfort at all, and I have to grit my teeth and hold my breath to keep from breaking out in sobs. I blink and concentrate on the view out the car