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“Big Bends”
William Auten
Copyright William Auten
Grasping the tickets, Stephen marches from the woman behind the counter, thanking her, and waves his gangly arms at his parents who wave back and drive off. His mother dabs her eyes. And as Stephen and Jo reach the dock, he fidgets near the crowd waiting arm-in-arm or around the waist with someone, kissing and nuzzling, gazing eye-to-eye. He fumbles handing Jo’s ticket to her and nearly loses his while stuffing it in his pocket alongside the ring with his grandmother’s band and diamond and the stones Jo said looked like dragon eggs on one of their dates. He pulls out the index card his parents and counselor Nelle helped him write—“a script you don’t have to memorize”—but stuffs it away when Jo shivers.
“Should I put my arm around you?” he mumbles.
“Yes you should.”