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Rae. She was reading a magazine called Today's Health. She closed it as soon as she saw me and asked, "What did he say?"
    "I'm not sure," I told her. "Something about my spine."
    "Your spine?" Aunt Rae said.
    "Yes … why … is that bad?"
    "I don't know," Aunt Rae told me. "You're sure he said your spine?"
    "Yes … I think so." He did, didn't he? Now I was getting all mixed up. Or did he say my tine ? Maybe my tine test came out wrong. But if that was so why didn't he give me another one back in April?
    In a few minutes Ma came out of Dr. Moravia's office, clutching a piece of paper. "What's that?" I asked. "Is it a prescription? Did you remind him I can't swallow pills?"
    "It's nothing," Ma said. "It's just a doctor's name and address."
    "Oh … Dr. Griffith … right? He's a friend of Dr. Moravia's. Did you know that?"
    Ma didn't answer me. She just said, "Let's go."
    When we were in the car I asked, "Well … what'd he tell you?"
    "Nothing definite," Ma said. "We have to see Dr. Griffith first."
    "But it's not my fault. He told you that, didn't he?"
    Ma acted like she didn't hear me.
    Aunt Rae said, "Who wants to stop for a soda?"
    Ma heard that because she said, "Let's go home. We'll have something there."
    I said, "Ma, didn't Dr. Moravia tell you that it's not my fault?" I wanted to get that straight right away.
    "Yes," Ma said. "Yes, he did tell me that."
    "Good! Now you can't be mad at me."
    "But I don't believe him," Ma said.
    "Then you do think it's my fault?"
    "I didn't say that."
    "Then what?"
    "I mean … doctors make mistakes all the time."
    Seven
    Dr. Griffith's nurse called Wednesday night, saying that someone had cancelled an appointment for Thursday morning and that Ma should bring me in at nine-thirty.
    I phoned Midge to tell her I wouldn't be at the bus stop because of an important appointment.
    "Another interview?" she asked.
    "No, a doctor's appointment."
    "Why? What's wrong?"
    "I don't know … remember that business about my posture?"
    "Yes."
    "Well … this doctor I have to see is an orthopedist."
    "That's a bone specialist."
    "How do you know?"
    "Because last year, when I broke my arm, I had to go to an orthopedist."
    "Dr. Griffith?" I asked.
    "No, Dr. Littel. He was nice."
    "I wish I was going to him. At least you could tell me what he's like."
    "Don't worry. It probably won't even hurt."
    "I hope not. I'll let you know on Friday."
    "Okay. Bye."
    What really surprised me on Thursday morning was that Daddy didn't go to the gas station. Instead of Aunt Rae driving us to Dr. Griffith's office, Daddy was going to take us himself, which is what gave me the idea that there was something really bad wrong with me because why else did Helen actually talk to me at breakfast? For somebody who was so sick I felt fine. I felt just like always. So I decided I must have one of those weird diseases where you never know anything's wrong with you until the end.
    Dr. Griffith's office is in the Medical Arts Building on West Jersey Street. We parked in the lot behind the building and took the elevator up to the third floor. The waiting room was full of people and most of them had some kind of cast on their arms or legs.
    We sat in the waiting room until ten after ten when the nurse called my name. Daddy and Ma stood up with me and the nurse showed us into a little office where another nurse told us to sit down. Then she asked us a lot of questions which Daddy answered, things like our address and phone number and what kind of medical insurance we have. When she got to that question Daddy took some cards out of his wallet and showed her the numbers on them. She must have been a good typist because as Daddy answered her questions she typed everything out on yellow forms, without ever looking down at her fingers.
    After that the first nurse came back and told my parents they could go sit in the waiting room and she would call them when the doctor was ready to talk. She took me into an examining room and told me to take