{"id":202,"date":"2022-02-08T22:02:51","date_gmt":"2022-02-09T03:02:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/foxglovesystems.com\/herbheineman\/Stowaway\/?page_id=202"},"modified":"2022-05-09T11:54:40","modified_gmt":"2022-05-09T15:54:40","slug":"fifteen","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/herbheineman.com\/Stowaway\/fifteen\/","title":{"rendered":"FIFTEEN"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t
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It had to be a good omen, Debbie reflected on discovering that Josh would be home on the day she visited. Josh now proudly put the letters M.D. after his name, and he was frequently consulted by family and friends for his opinion on all medical matters. Furthermore, he was universally respected for his compassion and decency \u2014 qualities that Debbie, whom he had teased mercilessly when they were children, attributed to the love of his life.<\/p>\n

Not least, he was in his second year of fellowship in hematology, which meant to her that he had the tools to defuse any emotional overreaction to the news she was about to reveal. And she chose lunch in the Rabins\u2019 backyard to do so. With Con away at the auto dealers\u2019 convention, Debbie felt free to bring the boys along without having a long discussion. After all, the issue concerned both of them, and talking openly about it among the larger family would give them a chance to ask questions too.<\/p>\n

Once the lunch dishes had been cleared from the picnic table, Esther suggested everyone relax in folding chairs arranged loosely in a circle. She sensed that her daughter had more on her mind than a social call. So, tilting her head slightly, she looked invitingly at Debbie without speaking. Debbie\u2019s own intuition told her the time was right.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s something I have to tell you,\u201d she said, looking down at the grass. Max nodded. So they\u2019re going to get divorced<\/em>. What else could merit such an opening? He wasn\u2019t particularly surprised. True, Con seemed personable and had always been respectful to his in-laws. At the same time he projected an air of, well, not being quite good enough for Debbie. A car salesman! Did you need a degree from Oberlin for that? How could he really fit into a family whose members worshiped at the altar of scientific method?<\/p>\n

Esther\u2019s mind worked differently. Of course, she too wondered what was coming, but she did not jump to a pessimistic conclusion. She did worry, because Debbie\u2019s expression did not portend good news. \u201cWhat is it, honey?\u201d she asked.<\/p>\n

Debbie looked up at her parents. \u201cYou know, Con is sort of macho, and he wants his sons to be like that too.\u201d (Here it comes,<\/em> Max thought.) \u201cJunior certainly hasn\u2019t disappointed him, but Chris is different. He doesn\u2019t care for sports, especially the rough stuff like football.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cYes, he\u2019s less physical,\u201d Esther said. \u201cmore likely to use his heart than his muscle, and I don\u2019t see anything wrong with that. In fact, you\u2019re lucky to have two such different sons, both excellent in their own way.\u201d She smiled approvingly at the two boys.<\/p>\n

\u201cYes, I am lucky,\u201d Debbie said, \u201cbut Con does have rigid standards. I try to discourage contact sports, but Con says he doesn\u2019t want to raise a sissy. We\u2019ve had some fights about it, but as long as Chris didn\u2019t get hurt, I usually backed down. Then one day Chris wrenched his knee. It didn\u2019t sound all that bad except it hurt more than I thought it should, and the pain got worse and worse. He couldn\u2019t sleep that night, and just touching the knee made him scream.\u201d C.J. silently thanked his mother for not mentioning his unfeeling reaction that night. \u201cIt was really swollen too. First thing next morning I took him to the emergency room. The doctor thought it was infected and he expected to find pus, but when he stuck a needle in it \u2014\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cYikes, that must have hurt even more than the swelling,\u201d Max interjected sympathetically.<\/p>\n

\u201cMaybe not,\u201d Josh corrected his father, \u201cjust relieving the pressure had to feel good.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201c\u2014 the thing is,\u201d Chris wanted to be sure he got his point across, \u201cthere was nothing but blood in there. Yeah, the needle was no fun, but letting the blood out was worth it. So you\u2019re both right!\u201d He smiled as though those words of encouragement ended the story. His mother was about to reveal the real ending.<\/p>\n

\u201cLong story short,\u201d Debbie said, \u201cThe doctor called an orthopedic surgeon, Doctor Prasad, who ordered x-rays. When they came back negative, meaning no fracture or torn ligaments, she ordered bleeding tests.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cShe?\u201d Max had momentary trouble putting that pronoun and \u201csurgeon\u201d together.<\/p>\n

\u201cYes,\u201d Chris chimed in. \u201cShe was Indian.\u201d<\/p>\n

By now Max had recovered. An Indian female surgeon. Fascinating. He thereupon realized he wasn\u2019t quite where he would wish himself to be regarding diversity, so he simply nodded and said no more.<\/p>\n

\u201cShe was real nice,\u201d Chris went on. \u201cAnd after she\u2019d changed out of her surgeon clothes, she looked real pretty too. She was wearing some kind of pink wrap-around, but her waist was showing! Mommy explained to me that that was OK for Indian women. It\u2019s called a sari<\/em>.\u201d<\/p>\n

By now Max was beginning to catch on with Chris\u2019s enthusiasm. A real education! He had a question.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd was your dad there too?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cNo,\u201d Debbie answered. \u201cI called him over from the dealership. He was even more shocked than you, Dad, and he didn\u2019t recover as quickly as you. I\u2019ll tell you about it another time.\u201d Max understood that hearing those details probably wasn\u2019t in Chris\u2019s best interest.<\/p>\n

Esther, who had listened quietly to this exchange, diverted the conversation. \u201cWhat happened next?\u201d<\/p>\n

Debbie took a deep breath, almost a sigh. \u201cThe blood test showed that the blood wasn\u2019t clotting the way it should. That was why there was so much in the knee. Just to make sure, she had the test repeated. The result was the same.\u201d<\/p>\n

Josh looked up. Eyes wide, he asked, \u201cWere the clotting factors tested?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cYes,\u201d Debbie answered. \u201cI guess you\u2019ve already made a diagnosis. Chris has hemophilia.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat in the world \u2014 ?\u201d Josh said, his mouth agape. \u201cHemophilia is hereditary. And he can\u2019t have got it from his father. The Y-chromosome doesn\u2019t  \u2014 \u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWhy not?\u201d asked Esther. \u201cDon\u2019t you inherit from both parents?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cYou do for most things,\u201d Josh explained, \u201cbut hemophilia\u2019s different. Long story short: boys get the disease and they inherit the gene from their mothers. Girls, as a rule, are spared the disease but they still transmit the gene. C.J. was lucky; Chris was not. It\u2019s easier to understand if I draw you a picture.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cLater, Josh,\u201d Esther said wearily. \u201cWe\u2019ll take your word. You\u2019ve studied this.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThe bottom line for this family,\u201d Josh continued, \u201cis that hemophilia is transmitted by the mother.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cDoes that mean you, Debbie?\u201d Esther said after an uncomfortable silence.<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t see any alternative,\u201d Debbie said. \u201cI\u2019ve seen the inheritance chart, and Doctor O\u2019Leary went over it with me.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cO\u2019Leary? I haven\u2019t heard of him.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s a specialist in hematology \u2014 just like Josh is training to be \u2014 and we\u2019ve never had that kind of problem in our family. Not until now.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIs he good?\u201d Esther asked.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe explains things very clearly and patiently, and I really do like him. He also plays checkers with Chris.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWell, good for him!\u201d Max said, clapping his hands. \u201cThe human touch. I like that. Though it\u2019s his competence that counts.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s very competent. Graduate of Harvard Medical. But Con doesn\u2019t care for him.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cFor God\u2019s sake, why not?\u201d Esther asked.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt so happens that he\u2019s black.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat the hell does that have to do with anything? Harvard graduated him, and they must have looked at him now and then.\u201d Max had, for the moment, forgotten his own reaction to Doctor Prasad.<\/p>\n

As if reading her father\u2019s mind, Debbie went on. \u201cCon didn\u2019t like Doctor Prasad either. Female and Indian, and I don\u2019t know in what order. I was so mad I didn\u2019t want to discuss it with him.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cAttitudes like that are also inherited,\u201d Max said quietly, \u201ceven if not on chromosomes. I suspect they\u2019re also sex-linked, though I wouldn\u2019t want to be quoted on the gender part. I may not be wholly free of it myself.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cOh, I know where he gets it from,\u201d Debbie said with a hint of disgust. \u201cI\u2019ll never forget the time I came across that picture in his home. That was years ago. We were still dating.\u201d<\/p>\n

She stopped there, but Max wanted to hear more. \u201cI don\u2019t think you ever told us about that.\u201d<\/p>\n

At that point Josh invited the boys to explore Carpenter\u2019s Woods with him. Esther shot him a smile of gratitude. When they were gone, she turned to Debbie, and asked: \u201cNo, you didn\u2019t. Why not?\u201d  <\/p>\n

\u201cI didn\u2019t want you to overinterpret it. I was afraid of overinterpreting it myself. You see, that was the time I was thinking about his marriage proposal, and after dithering about it so long I just couldn\u2019t see myself starting all over again.\u201d She looked both parents in the face. \u201cMaybe I made a mistake.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cYou didn\u2019t know you were a carrier,\u201d Esther said reassuringly.<\/p>\n

Debbie smiled half-heartedly at her mother\u2019s misunderstanding, wondering whether it was deliberate. \u201cThat\u2019s not what I meant, Mom.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cYou think Con\u2019s the wrong man for you?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cHe can be a really nice guy. It\u2019s just that he was raised wrong.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWhy don\u2019t you tell us what the picture showed?\u201d Max asked.<\/p>\n

Debbie took a deep breath, as though she was diving into a pool and didn\u2019t know whether she would reach the other end. \u201cIt was pretty old. It showed Con\u2019s grandfather with a group of guys in white robes and pointed hoods.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cHe was a member of the Klan?\u201d Esther asked incredulously.<\/p>\n

\u201cNo, he was not in white, just jeans and a plaid shirt.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cBut what in God\u2019s name was he doing there?\u201d Max couldn\u2019t believe his ears either.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s pretty obvious, I would think. He must have been friends with one of them. Maybe he wanted to belong.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cBut he wasn\u2019t wearing that outfit,\u201d Max observed.<\/p>\n

\u201cNo, they wouldn\u2019t let him. The Klan wasn\u2019t taking Catholics.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWell, they have their standards,\u201d Max said with a hint of sarcasm. \u201cThey probably wouldn\u2019t take Jews either.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cBut seriously,\u201d Esther corrected course, \u201cwe don\u2019t know Mike that well. I know he wasn\u2019t exactly gushing with joy at his son\u2019s choice of a wife, and he drinks a lot. But that\u2019s about it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Debbie shrugged. \u201cHe never liked me from the first, and I didn\u2019t care for him either. But Con defended me and I thought as long as we didn\u2019t cross him we\u2019d be OK. Con was old enough to make up his own mind, and Mike knew he couldn\u2019t stop our marriage, so he just made the best of it.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd Con\u2019s mother?\u201d Esther asked.<\/p>\n

\u201cGladys is very sweet, and we\u2019ve got along great. She was born and bred in New York, never exposed to the Southern culture. I don\u2019t know how she and Mike met. His family\u2019s from Georgia, though I never noticed a Southern accent. For all I know, he was also born in New York.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWell,\u201d Esther said hesitatingly, \u201cI\u2019d never hold being from the South against anybody. But associating himself with that hate group, I find that hard to take. Do you think any of that rubbed off on Con?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI didn\u2019t at first. But after the incidents with Doctor Prasad and Doctor O\u2019Leary I began to wonder. And then I remembered, when we were at Oberlin, he didn\u2019t do well on a test and said the instructor, who was Asian, favored the Chinese students. At the time I thought he was just making excuses and didn\u2019t mean what he said about favoritism. Now I\u2019m wondering whether I shouldn\u2019t have taken that part of him more seriously.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s quite possible that he\u2019s struggling inside with what he learned at home and what he learned at school as he got older,\u201d Max said. \u201cOberlin\u2019s a very liberal college. Maybe you should give Con the benefit of the doubt. He could really be trying, and his dad\u2019s influence only shows when he\u2019s under stress. Having a child with hemophilia must be stressful for him, just as it is for you.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd Gladys?\u201d Esther asked. \u201cWith her background, doesn\u2019t she put a damper on her husband\u2019s . . . ideas?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI never told her I saw that picture, nor the conversation I had with Con about it. But she certainly chides him for his drinking and his outbursts. Oh yes, there was the time we went to the baseball game. He had some very definite ideas about black players. Mike is a racist, no doubt about that. And I can understand that\u2019s where Con gets it; certainly not from his mother.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cAntisemite too?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI think so, though he\u2019s never been open about it with me. Just watched me in a knowing way when I didn\u2019t take bacon for breakfast.\u201d<\/p>\n

Max took a deep breath. \u201cAnd on top of all that, Con\u2019s blaming you for Chris\u2019s hemophilia.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t want to use the word blame<\/em>, but he\u2019s reminded me that I\u2019m the carrier.\u201d<\/p>\n

Max looked as if he were ready to speak, but he restrained himself. Instead, Esther said, looking down: \u201cYou must have got it from someone, and if I\u2019m not mistaken, if I\u2019m not getting the genetics confused, that someone is me.\u201d<\/p>\n

Debbie spread her hands. \u201cI\u2019m afraid so. And where did you<\/em> get it?\u201d<\/p>\n

Esther shook her head. \u201cI had no idea it was in the family. Good Lord, but for the grace of God Josh<\/em> could have been a hemophiliac.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWho\u2019s the boss here, the Good Lord or God?\u201d Max asked. No one reacted. \u201cOK, bad joke. I\u2019m sorry.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s OK, Daddy,\u201d Debbie said. \u201cNo harm done by a bit of humor. Do we have a genealogist in the family?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cAll I know,\u201d Esther answered, \u201cis that my mother \u2014 who had to be a link in the chain \u2014 she was adopted when both her<\/em> biological parents died in the flu pandemic in 1918. She was barely two years old. Her adoptive parents, the Levys, who had no children of their own, died years ago. If there had been anyone with hemophilia, I\u2019m sure I would have heard about it. Besides, my mother couldn\u2019t have inherited any traits from the Levys. She wasn\u2019t their biologic child.\u201d<\/p>\n

For half a minute nobody spoke. Then Debbie threw up her hands and said: \u201cIt really doesn\u2019t matter now where it came from. Chris has it, I transmitted it to him, and Con\u2019s unhappy with me.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cFor what it\u2019s worth,\u201d Esther said, by way of ending the conversation, \u201cwe\u2019re all lucky that Chris\u2019s case isn\u2019t the worst. He\u2019ll have to be careful all his life, but what he\u2019ll be missing \u2014 the contact sports \u2014 never interested him anyway.\u201d As she left to bring out refreshments, Max changed the subject.<\/p>\n

\u201cGoing back to Con, I was surprised that his father didn\u2019t put his foot down about him marrying a Jewish girl\u2026.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cHe tried, you can be sure,\u201d Debbie cut in.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut I have to give Con credit for standing up for his beliefs \u2014 and his girlfriend.\u201d Max continued. \u201cI like the diversity; we all do. And obviously it didn\u2019t bother you to marry a Catholic.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cYou and Mom \u2014 and Josh \u2014 taught me well. But Mike didn\u2019t like the idea one bit. He objected to the marriage in no uncertain terms. His prejudices don\u2019t stop with black baseball players. Con simply asserted his adulthood. Mike was ready to disown and disinherit him, but Gladys, bless her heart, quashed that idea.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cLet\u2019s hope that he doesn\u2019t blame hemophilia on the Jews,\u201d Max said, \u201cThey\u2019ve got trouble enough in matters of blood, Christ\u2019s blood.\u201d With that he got up to help Esther in the kitchen.<\/p>\n

\u2756\u2756\u2756\u2756\u2756<\/p>\n

\u201cHow did it go?\u201d Con asked, buttering a dinner roll.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat do you mean?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cTelling your parents. What else?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cAs good as you could expect. They were shocked, of course, but they didn\u2019t give me a hard time for not telling them sooner.\u201d Debbie omitted all reference to so-called responsibility. \u201cNow it\u2019s your turn.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ll call Mom right after dinner,\u201d he said. \u201cShe\u2019s been complaining about her knees and she\u2019s afraid she might need surgery. I\u2019ll pay her a visit. Want to come?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI think you should do this alone. I don\u2019t want to get caught up in a family discussion. And I\u2019m afraid of what your father might say. He scares me.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI think I can deal with him. I\u2019m not scared.\u201d<\/p>\n

He went to Brooklyn that Saturday and found his father in a particularly good mood because the Islanders had crushed the Flyers 7-1 the previous night. \u201cSo much for your wife\u2019s Philadelphians,\u201d he announced as Con was taking off his jacket. The expression \u201cyour wife,\u201d even without change in tone of voice or facial expression, never failed to irritate Con, as it was intended to do.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m not sure my wife knows or cares who the Islanders and the Flyers are. She never got enthusiastic about ice hockey like her friend Eden did. Too rough, she says. Some women see how graceful the game can be; they even compare it to figure skating, but Deb doesn\u2019t like the way the players bounce each other around and get into fights on the ice. Now Josh is another matter. He appreciates hockey. If he watched last night\u2019s rout, I don\u2019t think he slept too well.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cGive him my sympathy,\u201d Mike said with a laugh as he took a long draught of beer. \u201cMaybe next time they\u2019ll only lose 6-1!\u201d This declaration was accompanied by a peal of laughter so loud that Gladys came limping in, hoping to get in on the fun. She soon discovered that her sense of humor was not attuned to the subject under discussion and gave her husband a disparaging look.<\/p>\n

Con thought this sufficiently covered the preliminaries, and he turned to his mother to help her serve dinner. He declined her offer of wine and, instead, took a can of beer. \u201cGood man,\u201d Mike said. \u201cBeats wine any day. Keep me company.\u201d<\/p>\n

Keeping his father company was not the reason he chose beer; getting his father \u2014 and himself \u2014 in a reasonably good mood would improve his chances of surviving the next half hour.<\/p>\n

\u201cI have some unpleasant news to share,\u201d he finally began.<\/p>\n

\u201cBetter pop another can then! Take the edge off.\u201d Maybe his father was in too good a mood, Con thought. But he went ahead.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt concerns Chris.\u201d<\/p>\n

Gladys\u2019s eyes opened wide. \u201cOh dear. He\u2019s such a sweet boy. He can\u2019t possibly be in trouble!\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cNo,\u201d Con answered, \u201cnot in the way you\u2019re thinking. It\u2019s worse.\u201d<\/p>\n

As his parents listened with utmost attention, he detailed the events leading up to the diagnosis of hemophilia.<\/p>\n

Mike spoke first. \u201cBut were those real doctors? An Indian woman? A surgeon, you said? Orthopedic? Good grief! At least the hematologist, O\u2019Leary, sounds like he can be trusted.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI hate to disillusion you, Dad, but Doctor O\u2019Leary is black.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat!\u201d Mike rose unsteadily from his chair and almost fell over. \u201cHe gives himself an Irish name, and by the time a patient sees him for what he is, it\u2019s too late!\u201d<\/p>\n

Con felt trapped in a triangle of fury in which Doctor O\u2019Leary, target of both father\u2019s and son\u2019s racism, came out the clear winner. Not least because of the way he had captured his young patient\u2019s enthusiasm. Con, like many a victim of his own anger, vented at the closest offender. But he did not match his father\u2019s outburst. Instead, looking fondly at his mother\u2019s homemade blueberry pie and forking a slice of it, he said: \u201cDoctor O\u2019Leary plays checkers with Chris every time he sees him; I think he\u2019s started to teach him chess. Fabulous pie, Mom. Can you give Debbie the recipe?\u201d<\/p>\n

It was too much for Mike. He threw the half-empty beer can across the room and yelled: \u201cWhat the hell\u2019s happening here? My grandson \u2014 your son, Con, by the way \u2014 can\u2019t stop bleeding, and you\u2019re talking about a pie recipe while an incompetent so-called doctor plays checkers with him! Bring Chris up here, and I\u2019ll find him a doctor who knows what he\u2019s doing and doesn\u2019t play games!\u201d<\/p>\n

Con wiped his mouth and slowly got up to face his father.<\/p>\n

\u201cPlease, Con,\u201d his mother said, reaching for Con\u2019s hand, \u201cyour father\u2019s had a beer too many. Now both of you calm down.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cMom,\u201d Con said calmly, \u201cmaybe Dad has<\/em> had one too many, but I haven\u2019t, and there are a couple of things I need to tell him.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cDoctor O\u2019Leary,\u201d Con, suddenly all in favor of diversity, continued, \u201cis a graduate of Harvard Medical School and he\u2019s a board-certified hematologist. And no, he isn\u2019t Irish. He bears the name of his ancestors\u2019 owner because those ancestors didn\u2019t have their own names after a couple of generations in the original O\u2019Leary cotton fields. For all I know, one of the original O\u2019Learys could be in that picture with you and your Klan brethren.\u201d He sat down without acknowledging his own first reaction to the doctor.<\/p>\n

Gladys laid her head on the table and muttered: \u201cOh God. That!\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

Mike, suddenly out of ammunition, sat down and said no more. Gladys raised her head and turned to Con.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhere did it come from, Con? Isn\u2019t hemophilia inherited?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cYes,\u201d Con answered. \u201cFor practical purposes, only males have the condition, bleeding and all, but they inherit the gene from their mothers \u2014 who, by the way, don\u2019t even know they\u2019re carrying it.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cMeaning Debbie?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cYes, Mom.\u201d<\/p>\n

Mike had reloaded and was ready to attack again. \u201cWell, I\u2019m not surprised. I had my suspicion all along. It\u2019s a Jew disease, isn\u2019t it?\u201d<\/p>\n

Con turned on him. \u201cThat\u2019s absolute rubbish, Dad. Absolute, racist, anti-semitic rubbish! The last Russian Czar\u2019s son had it, and it came to him from the English Queen Victoria. Are you going to tell me they were Jewish?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cAll right, all right. I guess my history books were wrong.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cMore likely, you never read them.\u201d<\/p>\n

Mike, defeated, looked down sullenly. Gladys started collecting the dishes. \u201cWho wants tea?\u201d she asked cheerfully.<\/p>\n

Con, still standing, said: \u201cI think we could all use a cup. Let me help with the dishes.\u201d Gladys accepted the offer without comment. Mike was left alone to reflect on what he\u2019d learned and how he\u2019d reacted. By the time Gladys and Con returned with the tea, Mike had gone upstairs.<\/p>\n

Mother and son sat at the dinner table. \u201cI\u2019m sorry Dad blew up like that,\u201d Gladys said. \u201cIt\u2019s like he\u2019s blaming both you and Debbie for Chris\u2019s misfortune, and neither of you deserves that.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cYou shouldn\u2019t apologize for Dad. He doesn\u2019t seem to know any better, and he hasn\u2019t learned a thing since the days of that picture. By the way, Debbie\u2019s seen it.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cYou showed it to her?\u201d Gladys said, shocked.<\/p>\n

\u201cNo, the album was lying on the coffee table and she leafed through it while I was upstairs. That was years ago, before we were married. We almost broke up over it.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m glad you didn\u2019t. Don\u2019t tell Dad that Debbie knows.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cRight now I don\u2019t feel like telling him anything. And I don\u2019t want to hear his apologies after he sobers up. So I\u2019m not planning to be here tomorrow morning. I hope you understand. You\u2019ve really been wonderful where Debbie\u2019s concerned, despite the religious difference, and he\u2019s been \u2014 pardon the expression \u2014 a total asshole, his all-too-usual self. He\u2019s my father, and I suppose I love him. But I hardly know what that word means anymore.\u201d<\/p>\n

Gladys went around the table and hugged her son tightly. \u201cIf you want to go back tonight, I understand. Just tell me, what should I answer Dad when he asks in the morning?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cUse your judgment. I trust you. And by the way, we never got to talking about your knee.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ll talk next time. A good reason for visiting again soon. And we won\u2019t let family business distract us.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u2756\u2756\u2756\u2756\u2756<\/p>\n

\u201cSo how did it go?\u201d Debbie asked.<\/p>\n

\u201cDon\u2019t ask.\u201d<\/p>\n

Debbie looked at him with quizzical amusement. \u201cOh? That bad?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cYeah, that bad. What\u2019s worse, I have to go back soon to talk with Mom about her knee surgery. That\u2019s what I supposedly went for, and we never got to it, thanks to Dad.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cToo bad,\u201d Debbie sympathized. \u201cParental support could surely help in our situation.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cYou didn\u2019t tell me much about your visit.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cMy parents were shocked at first, like I told you, but supportive. Josh was home too, and that helped, because he knows how it works, the genetics and all that. We got to talking about where did I<\/em> get it? From my<\/em> mother, I guess. And she<\/em>? That\u2019s a dead end, because her mother was orphaned and adopted in the 1918 flu pandemic.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen are you going to Brooklyn again?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cAs soon as Dad has sobered up, which could be any day now. I suppose a weekend day would be best, but I can switch days off. Actually I\u2019m not looking forward to it, because the old man\u2019s going to apologize for some of the things he said, and I don\u2019t want to hear it.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWhy not? If he\u2019s sincere.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cOh, he\u2019s sincere all right. But that\u2019s his pattern. Insult, apologize sincerely. Insult, apologize. Like washing your dirty underwear and then getting them dirty again.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cHow about your mother\u2019s knee?\u201d Debbie asked.<\/p>\n

\u201cShe\u2019s probably going to get a new knee. But we were too busy dealing with Dad to talk about it.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s serious surgery, isn\u2019t it?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThe orthopedist says it\u2019s becoming routine. And, by the way, he\u2019s male and Caucasian. Dad approves.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThank goodness for that.\u201d<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t

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<< FOURTEEN<\/a><\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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SIXTEEN >><\/a><\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

It had to be a good omen, Debbie reflected on discovering that Josh would be home on the day she visited. Josh now proudly put the letters M.D. after his name, and he was frequently consulted by family and friends for his opinion on all medical matters. Furthermore, he was universally respected for his compassion […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-202","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"yoast_head":"\nFIFTEEN - The Stowaway Gene<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/herbheineman.com\/Stowaway\/fifteen\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"FIFTEEN - The Stowaway Gene\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"It had to be a good omen, Debbie reflected on discovering that Josh would be home on the day she visited. 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