Tell me the difference.

   I really wanted to know.  My brother was in school, first grade, and I wasn't; neither of course was my younger  sister.  Each day, or so it seemed to me, my mother would be waiting for his ride to bring him home. "He's early today," she would say, or " He's late."   These words were new to me at the time, in those days when we didn't have electricity for a radio, or indeed didn't have anyone to talk to us, except my mother who was busy with unending chores from daybreak to bedtime. 
   I thought about it for some time, wanting to know, and finally one day asked my mother what was early and what was late.  She told me to stop bothering her, she was busy, and maybe worried if this was one of  his late days.  I certainly don't remember everything, but some events are stuck in my memory forever for no good reason, and this is one of them. I remember feeling hurt, and a little angry, and I'm sure I cried privately, probably under a table that was in the hallway.  I'm also sure that my mother had absolutely no knowledge of my reaction.  She was way too busy for that.  Maybe I remember this because it was the first time that I was, in effect, told to stop talking, but with all certainly it was far from the last.