佚名/Anonyo
“Joe?Isthatyou?”Theeakgtoatthebasketballgalookedvaguelyfailiar.“Marci?”
“ItIsyou!”Sheexcid,silgbroadly.“Gosh,it’sgoodtoseeyouaga!”
ItwasgoodtoseeMarci,too.OffandondurgthepastfewdecadesI’vewonderedabouther.IalosttriedtotrackherdownafewyearsagoaftertalkgtoautualfriendwhohaddicatedthatthestdecadehadbeeyrockyforMarci.Sobupgtoheratthebasketballgawas,attheveryleast,fortuito.
Wespentafewutescatchguponthebessofourlives—kidsandcareers,spoesandhoes,educationandrecreation(it’salwaysalittledisgtoseehoordsarerequiredtosuarize25yearsoflivg).Wepyedalittle“haveyouseen...”and“didyouknow...”andwereiscedaboutthegoodold,badolddays.ThenMarcigrewquietforaont,lookgoutoverthecrowdillgaboutthencessionarea.
“Youknow,Joe,”shesaid,“I’vealwayswaotellyou...how...youknow...howsorryIaforthewayItreatedyou.”Isquird.Onedoesnotliketoreberwhenonehasbeenuncereoniolyduped.
“It’sOK,”Isaid.“Nobigdeal.”Atleast,Ithoughttoyself,notnow.“ButIwassuchajerk,”shentued.Yesyouwere,Ithought.“Wewerebothprettyyoung,”Isaid.
“Iknow,”shesaid.“Butthat’snoexcefor...”Shehesitated,thenntued.“It’sjtalwaysbothered,reberghowanIwastoyou.AndI’vewaotellyouthatI’sorry.So...I’sorry.”Thesileonherfacewaswarandscere.Andtherewassothghereyes—itlookedalotlikerelief—thatltedaigesoficyresentntthatayhavebuiltupwithdurgtheyearssceshehads-dunkedyheart.
“OK,”Isaid.“Apologyaepted!”Overebythesweetnessoftheont,Ireachedanararoundherandgaveheraquickhug.Jtthen,thecrowderuptedwithahugecheer,andMardIbothreturnedourattentiontothega.BythetiIlookedovertowhereshehadbeen,shewasgothewar,wonderfulfeelgofourbriefexgewasstillthere,andothisdaywheneverIthkaboutit.
Weallcarrybitter,disforiesofdeedsdoneorundone,andwordssaidorunsaid.Andweallbearwounds—soslight,sonot-so-slight—thathavebeenflicteduponbyothers.Thehealgbaloffivenesssootheatroublednsdbrgpeacetoanjuredsoul—evenyearsafterthefact.
Ofurse,itisn’tenoughtojtsay“I’sorry”and“You’refiven.”Whilethereisdeedgreatpowerthosesiplewords,itisnotavaibletothosewhoareslesoftheheartandsoul—iraclesoffiveness.
Evenatabasketballga.
“乔？是你吗？”篮球赛上一个有些面熟的女人问我。“玛西？”
她大笑并惊叫道：“真的是你！天啊，再次见到你真高兴啊！”
见到玛西，我也很开心。过去的几十年中，我也时不时地会想起她。几年前，我听一个我们都认识的朋友说，前十年里玛西过得很苦，当时我几乎要去追寻她的下落。能在篮球赛上碰面真是很幸运。
我们聊了几分钟的家常事，孩子和事业，爱人和家庭，教育和娱乐（仅用几句话就概括了25年的生活，真是让人感到有些不安。）我们用“你见过……”、“你知道……”询问了对方一些问题，又回忆了过去美好和沮丧的时光。之后，玛西沉默了一会儿，向地摊那边拥挤的人群望去。
她说：“乔，你知道的。我总是想对你说……你不知道……当初那样对你，我感到很难过。”我有些不知所措。
人是不愿记住曾经被别人随便抛弃的日子。
我答道：“我很好，不用把它放在心上。”至少我现在是这样认为。“但是我曾经是那么傻。”她继续说。我心想，你确实是。“那时我们都太年轻。”我说。