Read To Probe A Beating Heart for Free Online Page B

upstairs and turned on the shower, noting the damp towel and spray in the shower stall. She laughed out loud as she undressed and stepped into the shower. Averell was listening and opened his door to look. Hearing the shower, he went into the hallway and noticed the door to the bathroom was open enough to see in. Through the frosted glass of the shower stall he could see Ellie standing in the stream of water. Her back was toward the door and she could not see Averell. He watched as she stood motionless and let the water run over her for what seemed like a very long time. Then as Ellie reached to turn off the shower, Averell crept back to his room, closed the door and crawled into bed. About five minutes later Averell heard Ellie go into her room and close the door. He got out of his bed and crouched in the corner. “Why did she stand there in the shower so long?”
                  “Why?”
                  Steve returned in the morning, went into the bathroom and stood in the shower like Ellie did, letting the water run over him for about five minutes. He dressed and headed out to work. He said nothing to Ellie and gave Averell a look that sort of said, “you’re stuck here, I'm not.”
                  Over the next two weeks, Steve began to gather his things in boxes and load them in his truck. Each trip to work took him to an apartment on the other side of town where the boxes were deposited. Ellie was aware of the slow secretive moves, but said nothing. The time he spent in the house was uncomfortable for everybody. There was little to no conversation. Stares and short slighting comments were the rule of the day. Ellie slept in the bedroom and Steve spent nights on the living room couch. Sarah was constantly with Ellie and Averell hung around Steve. When Ellie was not around, Averell asked Steve questions about the words he had heard.
                  Steve had nothing to gain or lose and answered the inquiries with the best information he had.
                  “Romania is a country in Europe, where you were born. I don’t know the name of the town. Your name used to be Stelian Lupasco before Allen and your mom adopted you and brought you here to America.”
                  “Why do you stand in the shower for a long time?”
                  “To wash away my sins you little brat.”
                  “Stelian?” said the voice.
                  “That’s all that I’m going to tell you, now get away from me.”
                  This was not what Averell expected. He took the information and sat in his corner trying to figure it out.
                  “Why would his real mom let someone else take him?”
                  “Was he a bad baby and nobody wanted him?”
                  “Bad baby,” repeated the voice.
                  “Was his real mom still in Romania?”
                  “Who was his real father?”
                  “Did he have any brothers or sisters?”
                  “What’s a sin?”
                  “Sin?”
                  The questions kept coming to his young mind. Questions but no answers, only maybes. He wanted to learn more and at the same time he did not want to know. He was not sure what he wanted. Confusion, and no one for him to talk to. Averell sat in his corner and muttered the words again, “Damn it, bastard, adoption, Romania, Stelian, sin.”
                  And the voice added, “Damn it, damn it, sin.”
                  Steve had moved everything that he wanted to take or thought he could take and approached Ellie. “This ain’t workin’ out and I don’t want to be here no more.”
                  “So, leave, nobody’s stopping you. There’s the door, use it.” Ellie was holding on to Sarah in a