Never Crazy
Carrie-Bri’s last day of her masters, meaning, that after a three-month wait, she was finally able to take her comprehensive final, results pending. Carrie was relieved that the exam was all essay, involving no orbital mechanics, which meant no calculus.
“They tried to psyche me out for it,” she muttered, as she tore through her books and notes. “There’s not a single calculation on this thing.”
The skies had been unusual that morning. Collette had the strange sensation that she was in Northern Ireland as she opened the front door to the cool winds, which had brought snow. Yet the skies were nearly clear followed by a front of dark ones in the west.
The earlier afternoon, stories had been passed around between Dad and Uncle Balthasar, egged on by the rest of the family.
“Yeah, I never did anything really crazy in high school,” Uncle Balthasar was saying.
“Well, my kids are talking about some things you did right now,” Dad laughed, as Carrie and Joe shared looks.
“Yeah, what about the bowling alley?” someone asked.
“What about it?”
“In the age of streakers…” said Aunt Corliss.
That was all they needed.
“Well, did your dad ever tell you guys about the time he was rat-racing through the neighborhood?” Uncle Balthasar asked loudly.
“I never rat-raced through the neighborhood,” said Dad.
“Okay, well, you were involved. We were throwing water balloons at cars one night. And this guy got really mad at us. So Luther jumps in the front seat of our car, but he was too young or somethin’, maybe just had his learner’s permit, so I told him to scoot over, and I’d drive. So he jumps in the back and hides while I take off. The guy never found us. We pulled into the garage just in time. But he drove around several times. He was pretty mad.”
“That’s what Creole, Puff ‘o Lump, and I are going to do next!” Frances told Collette, highly inspired.
Collette wondered if Eriic ever had second thoughts about marrying into the family. He was not interested in living in St. Louis. Although Amanda wasn’t interested in living in his hometown either: Richmond. And so, it was, as she said, “even”.
Meanwhile, Monday, Puck ran around the living room in his walker, to which Frances had tied a bunch of helium balloons left over from Grandpa’s party. Later, Collette and Frances spun a pile of colored plastic donuts on the coffee table for Puck, who gleefully tried to catch them as they twirled.