Pad Thai II

Thom hands me a napkin, but generally keeps his six-year old elbows to himself.  And I start thinking about this summer.  I think about what Julio said about the train behind the old supermarket that passes through town. 

“Don’t you ever wonder how far you can go on it?”  Julio asked.

“Anyplace else,” I said.  “But you mean L.A.”  And I remember thinking how the idea of speeding away sounded cool.

I saunter over to the pantry and free six, fat Oreos and plop them down on Thom’s plate.

“For that spelling test.”

Ally’s and Don’s stares combine like one giant “parental” plasma ray and feel as if they burn through my shirt to the angry red mark left by Julio on my chest from Gitt’s party.  I am glad for once that Grizzly gambles. 

It is so quiet I can hear the heartbeats of my friends when they stop by to listen to my aunt and Don upstairs about what to do with Grizzly’s girl.

Did you see her hair?
She seemed upset about it.  She said something about prom, she got asked, this guy named Mickey.

You might wonder how an imaginary heartbeat sounds.  They are like signature files — unique and something you don’t pay attention to unless you decide to and like signature files, they can change.  Tonight Big Sister’s sounds like the slap of high fives at a game.  Sometimes they get loud at night, but so far, Ally and Don haven’t come to complain about the racket in the kitchen or my room so I’m guessing they are either wiped out from their day or I’m the only one that can hear the sounds.

I text Julio and ask whether he likes Double Stuf too and whether he’s going to prom.  But he doesn’t answer.