Goofy Kids
Dream 1: bent zipper pull used to demonstrate loyalty between friends in battle, circa 1992-1996. Dream 2: packing giant wontons with beef. My subconscious must have remembered it was Chinese New Year. Dream 3: closed beaches due to some hazard; diverted to giant sand dunes under gray skies and wind. Dad was there, too.
Yali opened his mouth wide that morning to reveal a blue glass marble sitting on his tongue.
“Yali!”
Sometimes there are ways to work around arm restraints. He spit the marble into my hand.
“Well, give him some credit, Mom,” Puck advised from the top bunk. “He’s thinking out how to work out the puzzle. I mean, for a little kid, that’s pretty good.”
Irish and I plowed through some algebra after lunch. Brought me back circa 2001 – 16 years old, fat pre-calc text, college campus. Days I don’t care to relive. And clearly Irish wasn’t ready to live them either. I think she’d rather stick with the Astronomy and Arabic.
We lingered some time after school. Heidi was gung-ho on creating a special valentine for Yali in the form of a cardboard scrap box car. Turns out he had a great time, sitting in the center of the box while Heidi embellished with markers and secret compartments. Puck mostly watched.
“You know he isn’t going to be that cute anymore in five years,” he felt the need to clarify.
“He’ll still be cute,” Heidi insisted.
“He won’t be cute. Trust me.”
I think Heidi remained unconvinced. Meanwhile Yali had temporarily migrated to Julia-Agnes. She had a penny in her hand, which Yali noticed. I guess he felt like drawing comparisons because after a moment he pointed to the image of Abraham Lincoln on the penny, then pointed at Hans sitting at his computer, then back to the penny again. There’s something about beards and this kid. Although when Julia showed him a dime, he pointed to Hans again, too. Go figure.
As we celebrated Chinese New Year with sweet and sour pork and crab rangoon that evening, Yali – unable to participate – waited for his Greek yogurt and honey. I tried to give him the first spoonful, but he refused and clasped his hands together. I had forgotten.
“Oración?” I asked. “Pray?”
He just grinned and waited for the prayer to begin.