Amber left, and Lynn, who had read the story, took the time to tell me the story was about greed. So I wrote that the theme of the story was greed. And then I couldn't think of anything else to write. Finally, I wrote, The descriptions of the dinners really describe greed. Greed is bad. People shouldn't be greedy. At the end of the book the main character isn't greedy anymore. I added a few other brilliant remarks. And then I folded the paper in half and put it in my book. I would probably get another C, which was good enough for me.
That night Sam fell asleep before me, as always. He shouted out in his dream, "Call me Mister Takeshima!" I laughed and got up and kissed him and made sure the sheet was snug around him.
"Good night, Mister Takeshima."
I turned around and was surprised to see Lynn sitting on the floor next to the couch. She was clutching her knees to her chest.
"Gregg is moving away," she said.
"I thought he was coming over for dinner one day."
"He was, but then he found out he was moving. They're already packed up. I haven't told anyone else."
"Not even Amber?"
"Nope."
"Are you in love with him?"
She thought this over. "No. I guess I like him, but I don't love him."
That was good. In my most humble opinion, Gregg was a little pukey. His hair looked like something you would brush a horse with. And when he talked, little bits of saliva collected at the corners of his mouth. He was certainly nothing like Joe-John Abondondalarama. Of course, I didn't mention this to Lynn.
Lynn returned to the bedroom. We used to wake each other up sometimes in the middle of the night and say what was on our minds. But Lynn hadn't done that in a long time. Usually when she used to wake me up, she had wanted to talk about college. I had secretly decided not to go to college, but I thought that maybe I would move to the same town as her. Then we could share an apartment in a tall building, the way she'd always dreamed.
Lynn had seemed sad about Gregg.
I got up and went to the bedroom and sat by her bed. "Lee-uhn?"
"Uh-huh."
"There's another boy in your class I think is cuter." "Who?"
"I think his name is Clifton."
"Clifton! Oooh! I thought you were serious." She laughed. "You're so funny!"
That made me realize I must have said something stupid. "Well, he's okay," I said defensively. That was the way it was lately. Whenever I tried to talk to her, she made me feel immature, even if she didn't mean to. I went back to the living room and fell asleep.
The next day Lynn felt so tired, she didn't want to get out of bed. I cooked her an extra helping of liver and told her to chew well.
Chewing well was what my mother always told me to do when I was sick. It was a Sunday. Lynn slept most of the day. By evening, when I tried to feed her, the food just fell out of her mouth. She didn't have the energy to chew. I even offered to chew it for her, but she said, "Gross."
My mother decided to take her to the hospital. My father was at work and nobody in the building was home because it was bowling night, so my mother called Uncle Katsuhisa to come take care of Sammy and me. Uncle didn't like to bowl because he only liked games where you had to think. I watched as my mother put Lynn's jacket over her pajamas. Lynn staggered out the door.
I locked the front door and waited for my uncle to arrive. Sammy's forehead was all wrinkled. He was calm, like my father, so it was unusual to see his forehead wrinkled that way. My mother always liked to say he was never going to get wrinkles because he hardly ever frowned. But now he was probably worried about Lynnie.
When Uncle Katsuhisa knocked on the door, I made him give me a password. He said with irritation, "Open up now, young lady, or bear my wrath." That happened to be the password, so I opened the door.
Uncle came in with Auntie Fumi and David and Daniel. They did everything together. Unlike my father, Uncle worked only one job, and Auntie didn't work at all. David and Daniel probably got to see their parents all the time.
I didn't know what to expect from Uncle and Auntie. Last time I had seen them, they had been fighting. They were like that. One day they were madly in love, and the next day they were fighting. And then the next day they were madly in love again.
Usually Uncle Katsuhisa was boisterous, but today when he came over, he was restrained. Plus, Uncle and Auntie were snapping at each other a bit. Obviously, they'd been fighting.
He said, "One thing I can't stand is a woman who spends money unnecessarily."
She said, "A woman needs a coat."
He said, "In ninety-degree weather?"
She said, "It won't always be ninety."
And so on. Then they stopped, and we all just sat there glumly.
All of a sudden, Uncle Katsuhisa stood up and announced, "We are going to play Scrabble!" He said that as if playing Scrabble were as fun as going bike riding or something.
I wasn't a good Scrabble player, but it was better than sitting around the living room staring at one another. I set up the game. Uncle sat in a chair and said, "It's family time!" Sam could already read simple words, but he was too young to play. He sat beside me. Uncle looked suspiciously at him, as if he might somehow help me cheat. David and Daniel studied their letters. I was first. I studied my letters. There didn't seem to be a word in them. Uncle cleared his throat. After a moment I could hear his foot, first tap, tap, tap, and then whompwhompwhomp on the floor. I sensed I was already ruining our family time. He peeked at my letters and threw his hands into the air.
"Think, Katie. Think, Katie. Think, Katie!" He looked at me as if I were possibly brain damaged. I'd seen him look at Auntie like that sometimes. He never actually called anyone stupid, but sometimes he looked at them as if he thought they were. "We're waiting, Katie," he said. "Take your time."
"I can't see anything I can do." It was hard to think with all that whomping.
"Take your time."
"Katsu, leave her alone. She's thinking," said Auntie Fumi.
"I'm trying to help," he said defensively. Then he looked at me as if it were my fault Auntie had scolded him. He looked at her. "Can I just say one more thing to her?"
"No," she said.
He peeked at my letters again and shook his head.
"You have to rise to the occasion," he said to me, sneaking a look at my aunt. She frowned.
I still didn't see what I could do. Scrabble was not my specialty. Now that I think of it, I suppose I didn't have a specialty. I looked at my letters: "S-Z-O-G-V-W-Q." Then I saw it, or thought I did. I put down "S-O-G." I happily picked up three more letters—all vowels.
I smiled up at my uncle. He was staring at the board. Then he leaned over, his head in his hands. He didn't speak for a long time. He groaned loudly over and over.
"Isn't that a bit melodramatic, Katsu?" Aunt Fumi asked.
"Isn't that a word?" I finally said.
"No, that is not a word," Uncle said. "That is not a word. That is not a word." He hadn't lifted his head. He hit his forehead on the table a couple of times. He lifted his head. "What do they teach them in school today? She's thirteen years old."
"She's eleven."
"Thirteen or eleven, that is still not a word."
My aunt stroked my face lovingly. "That was a good try, dear."
"'Soggy' is a word," I said. "Like 'foggy' and 'fog'?"
"Fumi, just tell me one thing: Is she doing this to torment me? I don't know if she's doing this just to torment me. If she's not, okay, but if she is . . ."
My aunt looked at me gently. "Honey, look at those letters you put down. There's a word right in those letters." She stroked my face. "What other word can you spell?"