�I�m afraid Patrick. Not of the performance, I know I can do that. It�s what will happen to me afterwards that frightens me. This family is one big avalanche that just keeps picking up speed. If do this performance the next thing I know I�m committed to a thousand other appearances you know how they are! I want no part of that! If I give in just once, it will never end.
�Look Allen, mother will never admit that she is not completely in charge of your life anymore. If you want to prove to her your recent sense of resolve is not a fluke than what better way to do it than to fulfill this obligation like a gentleman, and then walk away on your own terms?�
�Vous les jeunes messieurs aimeraient n'importe quoi d'autre cet apr�s-midi?�
The pretty caf� waitress appears at our table addressing us both but clearly looking directly at Allen.
After a long pause Allen looks at me as he replies, �En fait no. Je juste me suis rendu compte je tout ai j'ai besoin de.�
* * * * *
Questions are posed, poses are held, flashbulbs pop� The first tour mother has made with her sons also performing as professional musicians creates a storm of publicity larger than anyone had previously anticipated. Allen looks like a cat seeking safety from a pack of dogs on the edge of a rickety fence but he answers the reporter�s questions in flawless French (as do we all) and graciously co-operates with the endless requests for photos both with and without his violin. I can tell that Mother is not buying into this performance for a second but she seems appreciative for the effort nonetheless.
When the last reporter exits the parlor Allen shut the doors just as Meisinger and I are making our way back from seeing everyone to the front door. We look at each other and decide the best course of action is to wait out the next wave of the storm in the park across the street from the hotel.
Mother sits at the piano and looks through passages from her score of Thais playing bits here and there. Allen sits on the bench next to her.
�Mother, I intend to go through with whatever plans you and Meisinger have made for me this summer. But come fall, that will be the end of it. Could we please not have this issue come between us anymore?�
Mother plays a few more passages then stops to regard him carefully.
�The problem with children is that they eventually believe they can think for themselves. Many a path to destruction was paved by allowing a child to think for himself.�
�I am not a child, mother.�
�Oh you�re not? Oh do forgive my error. So I have an adult living under my roof? Eating my food? Wearing my clothes? Spending the money I earn? You forget dear boy that just because you have recently mastered the ability to form a complete sentence in three different languages does not mean that you actually know anything. Much less about what is best for you.�
�Mother I do not doubt for a second that you have ever made a decision for me that wasn�t based on what you believed were my best interests. But I�m not going to argue with you about it anymore. Come fall I am starting school as I have planned.�
�Oh are you dear? How lovely for you. Mother rises from the bench and crosses to the picture window. She looks outside for a bit before continuing. �Tell me my dear boy, how exactly do you plan to pay for it?�
Allen�s features freeze as he realizes just what Mother means.
Mother turns around from her place at the window to continue.
