290 deadtime

i nodded to let her know i was still with her . i was hooping she would skip to good part ."his old barn was converted into a house in the forties . the grandparents moved to a nursing home .they held on the barn hoping , you know ....anyway , when they finally died they left it to their grandkids . the kids can't agree what to do with it , one wants to keep it , the others want to sell it . but it's been empty for . like , ever . since the fifties , maybe . or sixties . inside , it's...like a museum from back then ."
"okay ," i said . i was hearing much more house history than i wanted .
whatever mel was saying through her anxiety was lost on me . i forced myself to adopt therapy ears , which meant assuming there was a point to the story . i couldn't find the point . i wasn't processing well .
i said ," no judgments about the house , the barn . whatever . i promise." i reaised my right hand to cement the oath ."it's jus a barn to me . everything else is gravey . let's go in ."
i took a srep . neither of the girlsoved to join me . i tuned to mel .
mel said ," i havren't been honest with you ."
who is ? i thought . then : sam . sam is honest with me .
i suspected that some more barn'house history was coming from mel . if that was the direction we were heading , i was hooping for some facts rlated to therjungle . without some fascinating cheetah or jane anecdotes to prime my neural pump , i knew would have to take some notes if i were going to remember any of this in the morning .
"i wasdn't here brefore . this afternoon . that was a lie . i was with jules ."
"jules ?" asked .
mel said,"i'm a lesbian , alan ."
my first thought was . well , then what the bell are you doing with a boyfriend in tarzan ?
it took me a couple od additional moments to recognized thatjust been granted the gift of a profound revelation .