Are you there?

Are you there?

My heart is jumping around in my chest, and I'm tensed, ready to cut and run. Alicia smiles at the man and says, " This guy here next to me, can you tell me if he's taller than I am? We've been having an argument because I think I'm taller than he is. What do you think?" Her hand tightens around mine.

The man is torn. He doesn't see a thing. I can tell the guy is worried that he's gonna hurt the blind girl's feelings. But he clears his throat, and he says, " The guy there next to you? Miss...actually, there's no one there."

She shakes my hand like a puppy shaking a rag. " He's right here--- I'm holding his hand! Who's taller, can't you tell?" Her voice is shrill, almost frantic.

The guy doesn't like being called a liar. "Miss, whoever you thought was right next to you, he's not there now. And I've got to go before the light changes." And he cuts across Fifty-seventh Street, glancing back once, shaking his head.

And now there's a new look on her face. New for Alicia. But I've seen it before. On Mom's and Dad's faces that first morning. It's the look of someone who is trying to process impossible information.

Because when something impossible happens, everything else comes unglued.

She's having trouble breathing. Then the first words. "So. . .you're, you're really----"

"Yeah," I say. "Invisible"