Mario's birth and defects
even if his intuition—slow and silent—scares her, his academic poverty breaks her heart, the smile he puts on each A.M. without fail since the suicide of their father makes her wish she could cry.
Context
The close of the Mario dossier: his unfailing daily smile since Himself's suicide belongs to the forced-smile/mask register — grief worn as its own opposite — and Avril's response is the Incandenza signature: not crying but the wish to be able to cry, mourning available only at one remove.