Page 13 - Contrast1991Fall

Well, usually. Today was a hard day. Adam had a 5:09 train to catch to
GeorgiaTech. He had most of the afternoon to get ready. Did he really not want to
leave? Is that why he sat on the deck wearing headphones, "chllllng"to the beat of
, Depeche Mode, when he should have been packing? Is that why he moved to the
couch to eat popcorn and watch soap operas with his sister? My husband and I
finally nagged him into the shower, into packing, and into the car. We spent the
trip to Baltimore berating him for his lateness and irresponsibility.

We were early; the train was late. Nerves untangled as we slumped into the
Worn,wboden benches inside Pennsylvania Station and examined the schedule of
the eighteen stops Adam would have to endure. He chewed his nails and asked
about where to eat on the train and how much to tip the cab driver in Atlanta
and.... The train pulled in on Track E.

Descending to the platform, my husband complained about what Manold-
looking sucker" the tarnished silver Amtrak car was, but I refused to worry. The
three of us lugged Adam's duffie bags, suitcases, and backpack onto the train, but
the conductor wouldn't let us help Adam to his seat. So we warted with the rest of
his bags while Adam rushed in with his first load. A few minutes later, the
conductor told us to leave. "Don't worry," he added. MI'Iwl atch his stuff." We
stepped off the train in a daze, stunned at how fast everything was happening.
looked at my husband with brimming eyes and sald, "But I didn't get to hug and
kiss him good bye." Tears trickled down my cheeks as the train pulled away. I
shuffied along with it for about a minute, trying desperately to see through the
filthy windows. I never saw him. At this moment he's probably whisking through
some sleepy town in North or South Carolina, not thinking about not hugging or
kissing me good bye. He's probably not thinking about me at all. Why did I buy
him those damn long pants?

-Kathy Bare

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