He made pancakes and cut up pears and peaches and apples and bananas for fruit salad.“This reminds me of the pancake house in town,” Bart said. “Remember?”Adam nodded. It had been Ed-Fred-George’s favorite Sunday dinner place.“Do you live here now?” Mimi said.Alan said, “Yes.” She slipped her hand into his and squeezed his thumb. It felt good and unexpected.“Are you going to tell her?” Billy said.She withdrew her hand. “What is it.” Her voice was cold.Billy said, “There’s no good comes of keeping secrets. Krishna and Davey are planning to attack Kurt. Krishna says he owns you. He’ll probably come for you.”“Did you see that?” Adam said. “Him coming for her?”“Not that kind of seeing. I just understand enough about people to know what that means.”Trey met her at six, and he was paunchier than she’d remembered, his high school brawn run to a little fat. He shoved a gift into her hand, a brown paper bag with a quart of cheap vodka in it. She thanked him simperingly and tucked it in her knapsack. “It’s a nice night. Let’s get takeout and eat it in High Park.”She saw the wheels turn in his head, meal plus booze plus secluded park equals pussy, pussy, pussy, and she let the tip of her tongue touch her lips. This would be even easier than she’d thought.“How can you tell the difference?” Arthur said. “Between seeing and understanding?”“You’ll never mistake them. Seeing it is like remembering spying on someone, only you haven’t spied on him yet. Like you were standing behind him and he just didn’t notice. You hear it, you smell it, you see it. Like you were standinginhim sometimes, like it happened to you.“Understanding, that’s totally different. That’s like a little voice in your head explaining it to you, telling you what it all means.”“Oh,” Andy said.“You thought you’d seen, right?”“Yeah. Thought that I was running out of time and going to die, or kill Davey again, or something. It was a feeling, though, not like being there, not like having anything explained.”“Is that going to happen?” Mimi asked Brad.Brad looked down at the table. “’Answer unclear, ask again later.’ That’s what this Magic 8-Ball I bought in a store once used to say.”“Does that mean you don’t know?”“I think it means I don’t want to know.”
He made pancakes and cut up pears and peaches and apples and bananas for fruit salad.
“This reminds me of the pancake house in town,” Bart said. “Remember?”
Adam nodded. It had been Ed-Fred-George’s favorite Sunday dinner place.
“Do you live here now?” Mimi said.
Alan said, “Yes.” She slipped her hand into his and squeezed his thumb. It felt good and unexpected.
“Are you going to tell her?” Billy said.
She withdrew her hand. “What is it.” Her voice was cold.
Billy said, “There’s no good comes of keeping secrets. Krishna and Davey are planning to attack Kurt. Krishna says he owns you. He’ll probably come for you.”
“Did you see that?” Adam said. “Him coming for her?”
“Not that kind of seeing. I just understand enough about people to know what that means.”
Trey met her at six, and he was paunchier than she’d remembered, his high school brawn run to a little fat. He shoved a gift into her hand, a brown paper bag with a quart of cheap vodka in it. She thanked him simperingly and tucked it in her knapsack. “It’s a nice night. Let’s get takeout and eat it in High Park.”
She saw the wheels turn in his head, meal plus booze plus secluded park equals pussy, pussy, pussy, and she let the tip of her tongue touch her lips. This would be even easier than she’d thought.
“How can you tell the difference?” Arthur said. “Between seeing and understanding?”
“You’ll never mistake them. Seeing it is like remembering spying on someone, only you haven’t spied on him yet. Like you were standing behind him and he just didn’t notice. You hear it, you smell it, you see it. Like you were standinginhim sometimes, like it happened to you.
“Understanding, that’s totally different. That’s like a little voice in your head explaining it to you, telling you what it all means.”
“Oh,” Andy said.
“You thought you’d seen, right?”
“Yeah. Thought that I was running out of time and going to die, or kill Davey again, or something. It was a feeling, though, not like being there, not like having anything explained.”
“Is that going to happen?” Mimi asked Brad.
Brad looked down at the table. “’Answer unclear, ask again later.’ That’s what this Magic 8-Ball I bought in a store once used to say.”
“Does that mean you don’t know?”
“I think it means I don’t want to know.”