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“How is Marilyn?” Mrs. Allen asked.
“玛丽琳怎样了?”艾伦太太问。
“She’s been away quite a while, hasn’t she? I do hope everything is all right.”
“她走了好长一段时间了，是不是?我真希望一切顺利。”
Her eyes were excited and bright, as if—Nath thought—she might get a present.
她的眼睛兴奋而明亮，就像纳想的那样，她可能会得到一份礼物。
“We’re holding down the fort,” James said.
“我们正在代她照看孩子，”詹姆斯说。
“How long will she be away?”
“她要离开多久?”
James glanced down at the children and hesitated.
詹姆斯低头看了一眼孩子们，犹豫了一下。
“Indefinitely,” he said.
“不清楚，”他说。
Beside him, Nath kicked Mrs. Allen’s gate with the toe of his sneaker.
在他旁边的纳用运动鞋前端踢开了艾伦太太家的大门。
“Don’t do that, Nath. You’re leaving a scuff.”
“别这样，纳。你鞋会磨坏。”
Mrs. Allen peered down at them, but the children, in unison, looked away.
艾伦太太低头凝视着他们，但孩子们一致把目光移开了。
Her lips were too thin, her teeth too white.
她的嘴唇很薄，牙齿很白。
Under the heel of Lydia’s shoe, a wad of bubble gum stuck her to the concrete like glue.
在莉迪亚的鞋后跟下，一团泡泡糖像胶水一样把她粘在水泥地上。
Even if she were allowed, she thought, she could not run away.
即使她可以，她觉得自己也不能逃跑。
“You two be good now, and your mother will be home soon, isn’t that right?” Mrs. Allen said.
“你们俩现在要乖乖的，你们的妈妈很快就回来了，是吗?”艾伦太太说。
She shifted her thin-lipped smile to James, who didn’t meet her eye.
她抿着嘴唇，笑着转向詹姆斯，但他没有注意到她的目光。
“Our groceries must be melting,” James said, though he and Lydia and Nath knew there was nothing in the bag but a quart of milk, two jars of Jif, and a loaf of bread.
“我们的食物一定在软化了，”詹姆斯说，虽然他、莉迪亚和纳知道袋子里除了一夸脱牛奶、两罐干果和一条面包外，其他什么也没有。
“It’s nice seeing you, Vivian.”
“很高兴见到你，薇薇安。”
He tucked the paper sack under his arm and took each of the children by a hand and turned away, and the gum under Lydia’s shoe stretched and snapped, leaving a long, dried-out worm on the sidewalk.
他把纸袋夹在腋下，牵着每个孩子的手，转身走了，莉迪亚鞋下的口香糖拉伸又断开，在人行道上留下了一条又长又干的虫形印记。
At dinner, Nath asked, “What does indefinitely mean?”
吃饭时，纳问道:“不清楚是什么意思?”
Their father looked suddenly at the ceiling, as if Nath had pointed out a bug and he wanted to find it before it ran away.
他们的父亲突然看着天花板，好像纳指出了一个漏洞，想在错过之前立马指出来。
Lydia’s eyes went hot, as if she were staring into the oven.
莉迪亚的眼睛发红，像是在盯着烤箱。
Nath, remorseful, prodded his sandwich with his knuckle, squeezing peanut butter onto the tablecloth, but their father didn’t notice.
纳懊悔不已，用指关节戳了戳三明治，把花生酱挤到了桌布上，但他们的父亲没看到。
“I want you to forget everything Mrs. Allen said,” James said finally.
“我希望你忘掉艾伦太太说的一切，”詹姆斯最后说道。
“She’s a silly woman and she doesn’t know your mother at all.
“她是个傻女人，她根本不认识你母亲。
I want you to pretend we never even talked to her.”
我要你当作我们从没跟她说过话。”
He patted their hands and tried to smile.
他拍拍他们的手，努力微笑着。
“This isn’t anyone’s fault. Especially not yours.”
“这不是任何人的错，尤其不是你们的错。”
Lydia and Nath both knew he was lying, and they understood that this was how things would be for a long time.
莉迪亚和纳都知道他在撒谎，他们明白在很长一段时间里，事情都会这般发展。
The weather grew warm and sticky.
天气变得温暖而潮湿。
Every morning Nath counted up the number of days his mother had been gone: Twenty-seven. Twenty-eight. Twenty-nine.
每天早晨，纳都要数一数母亲离开的天数：27，28，29。
He was tired of staying inside in the stale air, tired of the television, tired of his sister, who more and more stared glassy-eyed at the screen in silence.
他厌倦了呆在屋里呼吸着浑浊的空气，厌倦了看电视，也厌倦了妹妹，越来越频繁地盯着屏幕，一声不吭。
What was there to say?
有什么可说的呢?
Their mother’s absence gnawed at them quietly, a dull and spreading hurt.
母亲离开这件事悄无声息地折磨着他们。
One morning in early June, when Lydia nodded off during a commercial break, he tiptoed toward the front door.
六月初的一个早晨，莉迪亚在一次广告时间打瞌睡，他踮起脚尖走向前门。
