passing. Some of her closer friends had fried on a
number of occasions to get her to do theater trips or
shopping trips with them. She always found some
excuse not to go, and finally, they stopped calling
altogether. In fact, it was rare to hear our phone ring at
all these days. When it did, it was often Uncle
Palaver. If he called when I wasn't there. Mama did a
good job of covering up her depression and loss of
interest in everything. But if I answered the phone. I
told him the truth, first in hopes that he would come
visit, and second because I was really getting
frightened for her.
He did plan on a trip to visit, but another cruise
ship offered him an opportunity that he said would
result in his and Destiny's most lucrative payday. He
promised he would look into visiting us as soon as he
was ashore again. He knew we were going to see
Brenda's big game, and Mama had made it sound very
exciting, so he was optimistic things would begin to
change and work out for the best.
Did he really feel that they would, or was he
saying it just so he would feel better himself? When
people say. "Everything will be all right," are they
really saying, "Stop bothering me?" Maybe Daddy
was right about Uncle Palaver after all. I thought. Maybe he lived in his own world of illusion,
saw everything through rose-colored glasses, and
never really grew up.
"That wasn't it," Mama had insisted when
Daddy said these things about Uncle Palaver. "This is
just the life he has chosen for himself. It isn't that he is