Theodosia
It was a hot, bright summer day, but I was not planning to enjoy it yet. My mother and I sat at our dining table, having lunch. I heard her ramble about her day, the upcoming social events, and the many subjects of her most recent causeries.
"And apparently," she said, as if that was just another of the idle chats' topics. "Mr. George Eacker gave an appalling speech yesterday in which he insulted Mr. Hamilton."
I did not know how to react, although I should have at that point. I decided to stop her and subtly encourage her to give me more details.
"Are you sure of this?"
"I am. Mrs. Dane told me all about it this morning. She said he was quite resounding and scathing".
"Oh, how awful," I thought aloud, to which Mom agreed.
I was supposed to meet Philip that afternoon. I could only imagine the state I would find him in, as he never took with ease people commenting on his father. Even all these months later, it still bothered him.
I was ready to reassure him and to distract him as I always did. I expected a couple of words of mine to do the trick. They had so many other times before.
I shouldn't have overestimated my ability to influence him like I did. I should have known he would have already made a decision of his own.
I was waiting for him in our most hidden place. When the summer began with its clear days, and people began to frequent the park a lot more, we decided to change our meeting point from the tree next to the walkway to the small woods passing the stream that crosses part of the park.
I saw him arrive, walking from afar. He didn't seem collected. His expression was heavy, perturbed. I ran to him.
"Philip, I heard about Eacker's speech. Are you all right?"
"Theo," he was breathing heavily. "I went to look for him."
"What do you mean?"
"I mean that I heard what he said, and I was furious, Theo. He made a speech, in front of everybody. And I was furious. So I went out and tried to find him, and I did. I found him, and I said all these things to him, and he said things back."
He ran out of breath with every word he spoke, incapable of shaping his ideas the way he would have wanted to. He was obfuscated and disperse.
"Philip, try to calm down," I said steadily, slowly. Almost as a whisper. I looked into his eyes, trying to anchor him to the present. I slowed down the pace of my own breath with the intention that he would emulate it. "Walk me through what happened."