Kyle's First Love, 1967

“Kyle came home on a Friday evening in late September and Sophie knew. She was in the kitchen cutting tomatoes for dinner, and she heard his truck in the driveway, the engine shutting off, the door slamming. She heard him come up the porch steps two at a time, which was how Kyle always came up the porch steps, because Kyle had never done anything at half speed in his life. The screen door banged. He came through the kitchen and said, "Hey, Mom," and kept going toward the hallway, and Sophie looked up from her cutting board and saw his face. He was trying not to smile. That was how she knew. Kyle was not a boy who tried not to smile. Kyle smiled when he felt like smiling, which was most of the time, and when he didn't feel like smiling he scowled, and neither expression required any effort from him. But this was something different. This was a smile he was holding down, pressing it flat. His eyes were bright. His cheeks had color in them that had nothing to do with the September heat.”

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