Chapter FourWe took the B-Road
to join the Bethlehem one, the Mini making short work of the Free
State hillsides and farmland with fields of tired sunflowers.
Winter was approaching, parching the roadsides into dusty monotones
while the strips of emerald irrigated fields stood lushly out. Jay
and I fell into those silly nonsensical chats like the ones we'd
often had at Tech. I'd forgotten how much I'd missed them, and how
much we'd laughed until I'd gotten stitches. Mindful of my real
stitches, I tried to subside into giggles.
“It's good to hear
you laugh again,” Jay remarked, sounding suddenly serious.
“We laugh on the
phone—sometimes.”
“Ja. But it's not
the same.”
He was right. It
was far from being the same. “I expect it's because we're getting
older.”
“Mm. Then we
sh
