The footlocker arrived before the lesson did. A couple stood at our door in Flagstaff, carrying a case of well-loved toys, restraints, and impact tools. We knew how to negotiate with each other. We were about to learn what happens when two more complete adults enter a room where our private shorthand has always been enough.
The night the private dialect needed subtitles
It was not one thunderclap of a conversation or a formal renegotiation over coffee. The case looked like it had seen some miles; the people carrying it looked curious, not like they had come to perform. They stepped inside, and suddenly the room contained four complete adults instead of two people who already knew each other's every glance.
