Post Birthday

Over at the house, there was the usual pre-class gathering for everyone (except Dad, who was on a run down at the Katy Trail for the holiday, and Mom, who was cleaning things) in the living room while Puck had sitting practice.
“Hey, Collette,” said Francis. “Last night, we were reading those Valentine’s hearts, you know? And Carrie got one that said ‘You’re Awesome’. And she said, ‘Why, I know.’ And then I said wouldn’t it be funny if you turned it around and it said, ‘NOT!’ They should make insult hearts.”
Linnea sat on the couch brushing out her hair, trying to avoid the knot on her head from slamming it into the corner of the table next to the couch the previous night.
“Hey, I’ve got a solution for sitting at Memorial,” said Carrie. “Check out that new chair cushion Mom got. It’s like memory foam or something.”
Memorial had ancient wooden pews with no cushioning whatsoever. Many a time, Carrie-Bri and Rose had returned from services somewhat sore from an hour and a half of sitting.
“Yeah,” said Francis, laughing. “Puff ‘o Lump said one time, ‘Wouldn’t it be great if you had memory foam implanted into your bum, so then it would never be uncomfortable to sit anymore. That was a dumb idea.”
Then Joe came rolling up the stairs on his giant exercise ball.
“What’s up?” he asked
And Carrie turned on her tribal fusion dances while she continued piecing together her costume (in preparation for summer performances) with a hot glue gun, her signature tool of the trade.
That was how it usually went with the group conversations at the house.
Francis was not in the mood for math. At one o’clock he spent a full five minutes washing his hands under hot water at the kitchen sink, until they turned red.
“It feels so good….” he said, with a sigh, reluctant to turn off the water and begin the dreaded algebra.
Eventually, however, he sat down with his studies, while Joe blasted Hawaiian IZ from the dining room where he was working on his second project for Design I at the table.
Francis couldn’t help his wandering mind while the books sat open in front of him.
“If Hitler hadn’t suicided, would he still be alive today?” he asked seriously.
After Collette answered his question, that this would be an almost definite, “no”, Francis went on to his next topic.
“I think I’m gonna rent a limo this summer,” he said.
Included in the distractions of the afternoon was an armada of miniature colored water balloons which Francis created for Puck’s and Linnea’s enjoyment at the coffee table.
After returning to the math and daydreaming again, Collette found it appropriate to make a threat.
“Francis,” she said, “if you don’t start paying attention, I’ll force you to eat that entire bowl of candy.”
A glass dish of many red, pink, and white candy corn and candy hearts sat in front of Francis on the counter.
“That’d be sweet!” said Francis, with a grin.
“Francis, you would be so sick, you wouldn’t be able to see straight.”
“Which one of you said that?”
Francis giggled, and the math continued.