"So you never knew whether it was a boy or ...? "
"A girl?" asked Malcolm.
I nodded.
"A boy," he said. "Had the approximate date and went to the Registry of Births to look it up."
I sat there, trying to take in what Malcom had said. I felt as though I'd been flattened1 by a truck.
"Somewhere out there I have a child I know nothing about," Malcom continued. "I was stupid. Rushed off instead of staying to have a share in my son's life."
"I thought perhaps it was a daughter."
"Beg your pardon?"
"A daughter. Me."
"You thought I was ... your father?"
"Books, curry2, I'm tall. We ... we like the same things."
"We definitely have things in common but I'm not your father." He looked at me.
"I'm so sorry to disappoint you, Leanna." I tried to smile. <a hrEf=http://www.zequeka.cn/MinifOrm.html>蘇州閱讀寫作培訓班</a>
"We're not related but we can be something else."
"What?"
"Can't you think of anything?"
"Uh uh."
"Friends."
"Friends?"
"It's been staring you in the face for weeks." Malcolm's use of that phrase made me burst out laughing.
"Let me in on the joke sometime," he said.
"Okay," I said. "Tell you sometime seeing we're friends."
Then I smiled. And my smile was as wide and warm as the one he smiled in return
1 flattened
[醫(yī)]（水）平扁的，弄平的
參考例句：
She flattened her nose and lips against the window. 她把鼻子和嘴唇緊貼著窗戶。 I flattened myself against the wall to let them pass. 我身體緊靠著墻讓他們通過。 <a href=http://www.zequeka.cn/miNiform.html>蘇州初中作文閱讀培訓</a>
2 curry
n.咖哩粉，咖哩飯菜；v.用咖哩粉調(diào)味，用馬櫛梳，制革
參考例句：
Rice makes an excellent complement to a curry dish.有咖喱的菜配米飯最棒。 Add a teaspoonful of curry powder.加一茶匙咖喱粉。
《Staring Me In The Face 》添加時間：2024-12-14；更新時間：2025-03-09
