亭亭和文禮到了家,休息片刻,老教授夫婦便把他們帶到餐廳去吃飯。知道他們累了一天,在餐桌上,老阿媽和老Tom沒有跟他們聊得太多,吃了飯也沒讓他們收拾桌子,就催他們趕快上樓洗洗,然後去睡覺。
但亭亭一點睡意都沒有,洗了澡,又下樓了。這時,老阿媽一個人正坐在沙發上看電視呢。
「 Heather, I』m so tired...today!I..I..want to stay home tomorrow.」亭亭坐在老阿媽傍邊說。
「Come here, dear. Let me give you a hug. You don』t have to go out if you don』t want to. My sweetie is having travel blues, I totally understand.」老阿媽和藹可親地說。
「You are so nice.」亭亭笑笑對老阿媽說。
「You are very welcome!」 在說「very 」的時候,老阿媽特意加重了語氣。
「Heather, I..I..have.. a question.」一天沒怎麼說英語了,亭亭又開始結巴起來。
「What is it, dear? Feel free to ask me anything.」老阿媽點頭,微笑著,然後目光慈祥地望著亭亭說。
「Can I really...forget my boyfriend? Do you...have...suggestions?」亭亭低下頭,小聲地問。
「You don』t forget him, ever. But you must overcome the pain that his death brought upon you. For example, you can start gathering pictures you have with him, letters from him, and others, in an envelope and put them away somewhere in a drawer. Hide whatever you have from him into a closet, or anywhere way from your eyes for now. This way, the recovery process may not take so long. That was how I did at the time.」老阿媽說這些話的時候一直慈祥的看著亭亭的眼睛。
亭亭沒有聽懂「envelope」的意思,就問:「What's an envelope?What is a 『closet』?」
老阿媽走到書架前,又拿出了那個陳舊的信封,指著那個信封,說:「This is an envelope—e,n,v,e,l,o,p,e—envelope.」 老阿媽拼讀了每一個字母,又重讀了一邊「信封」這個詞,然後,帶著亭亭走到門口站在右邊的衣櫥跟前,指著它說:「This is a closet--c,l,o,s,e,t—closet.」
「I see!」亭亭馬上就明白了,它們分別是「信封」和「衣櫥」的意思。這時,亭亭才明白,她把俊傑和他的一家送給她的東西都帶在身邊了,自己這樣下去怎麼能行?
於是,她指著脖子上的項鏈和手上的鏈子,告訴了老阿媽:「These are from him. So, I..I..shouldn't carry them, right?」
「That's right, sweetie. Neither should you have this sweater from his mother. Try other clothing that doesn't remind you of the past. After a while, you will change how you feel. Can you try that?」老阿媽像個心理醫生一樣,輔導著心理正在生病的亭亭。
亭亭此時似乎明白了,「Ah, I see. That』s (a) good idea! Let me take off the necklace and hand chain.」說著,亭亭指了指脖子上的項鏈和手上的鏈子。
老阿媽笑了笑,指著她手上的鏈子,說:「 We don』t say it 『hand chain』, it』s called 『bracelet』. 」
亭亭「Oh 」了一聲,跟著重複了一遍「bracelet」。
「Very good!」老阿媽點點頭。接著,她繼續說:「 This is a very good first step toward recovery, I believe.」邊說著,邊輕輕地握住亭亭的手。
「Heather, how long did it take for you to recover?」亭亭學著老阿媽的語調和詞語問道。
老阿媽抿了抿嘴巴,翻了翻眼睛,回憶道:「 A long time! About 5 or 6 years!」
「How long do you think it will take me…?」亭亭又問。
「 That's hard to say, sweetie. It all depends … 」 老阿姨搖搖頭,也不知怎樣回答她,然後又接著說:「As I said, be strong and try to find happiness in life. You will recover in due time. Life must go on.」
亭亭此時,兩行熱淚再一次滾落了下來,老阿媽緊緊地拉著她的手,搖了幾下。
「 You are tired, sweetheart. go to bed and have some good sleep. Tomorrow is a totally new day for us all, my dear!」老阿媽深情地望著亭亭,說。
「 Thank you, Heather! I』m going to bed. Good night!」道了晚安,亭亭就上樓去了。
回到房間,她脫下了蘇阿姨送給她的毛衣,摘掉了俊傑給她的手鏈和項鏈,跟那條洋裝一起包好,把它們放到了行李箱的最下面。
這一夜,是亭亭來紐西蘭以後睡得最香的一夜,而且她真的做了一個美夢……