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And all the while. Mama remained calm,

understanding, still remarkably taking Betsy's side

with the promise that she would soon change. The

more sympathetic she was, however, the angrier Dave

became at Betsy.

"Look at how nice Sarah is to you. How can

you be so ungrateful and inconsiderate all the time?"

he would chastise.

Betsy's reactions to her father's rants and raves

were simply to look away, pretend she didn't hear

him, or turn to me to ask a question as if he weren't

even there. Frustration reddened his face. He looked

more and more haggard, and when anyone asked him

why he looked so tired, he would let loose with a

catalog of problems he was having with his daughter.

Mama and I were often witless to his speeches in the

pharmacy because the sight of us would bring his

vexation to a boil.

"That woman," he would say, nodding at

Mama. "is an angel. She's an absolute angel. What she

contends with would drive anyone else mad. I don't

deserve her. and Betsy certainly doesn't. Teenagers,"

he would spit, and people would nod in sympathy. "Shell come around," Mama would say

charitably. It never ceased to amaze me. From what

trunk did she dig up all this patience and

understanding? I knew firsthand what her temper

could be like. Why wasn't she thinking of ways to

change Betsy? Why was she so tolerant?

I couldn't disagree with Dave about Betsy being

ungrateful. The nicer Mama was to