the walk built so Hal can slip away
In mid-October Y.D.A.U., Hal had invited Mario for a post-prandial stroll, and they were strolling the E.T.A. grounds between the West Courts and the hillside’s tree-line, Hal with his gear bag.
Context
The post-prandial stroll exists as scaffolding for the using — Hal with his gear bag, a route to the tree-line — and the tenderness of the scene is that Mario knows it, and covers for it, feigning interest in a leaf-and-twig ensemble so his brother can melt away unremarked. The enabling is done out of love and tact, which makes it a quiet system all its own, indistinguishable from care.