And all the while. Mama remained calm,
understanding, still remarkably taking Betsy's side
with the promise that she would soon change. The
more sympathetic she was, however, the angrier Dave
became at Betsy.
"Look at how nice Sarah is to you. How can
you be so ungrateful and inconsiderate all the time?"
he would chastise.
Betsy's reactions to her father's rants and raves
were simply to look away, pretend she didn't hear
him, or turn to me to ask a question as if he weren't
even there. Frustration reddened his face. He looked
more and more haggard, and when anyone asked him
why he looked so tired, he would let loose with a
catalog of problems he was having with his daughter.
Mama and I were often witless to his speeches in the
pharmacy because the sight of us would bring his
vexation to a boil.
"That woman," he would say, nodding at
Mama. "is an angel. She's an absolute angel. What she
contends with would drive anyone else mad. I don't
deserve her. and Betsy certainly doesn't. Teenagers,"
he would spit, and people would nod in sympathy. "Shell come around," Mama would say
charitably. It never ceased to amaze me. From what
trunk did she dig up all this patience and
understanding? I knew firsthand what her temper
could be like. Why wasn't she thinking of ways to
change Betsy? Why was she so tolerant?
I couldn't disagree with Dave about Betsy being
ungrateful. The nicer Mama was to