Tags

, , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

July 4, 2021

Having set up camp in a northeast corner of Cary North Carolina’s Crescent Commons shopping center, Connie Lehn, her daughter Samantha, her father Calpurnius Kelly, along with neighbor Dan Inks, were relaxing while waiting for darkness to usher in the boom and flash of nearby Koka Booth’s Fourth of July fireworks. “Your father just turned sixty, huh?” Cal said to Dan. “I remember sixty,” he added with a self-deprecating smirk. “Where does he live?”

“Mom and Dad are on the Maryland side of DC sandwiched between the inner and outer beltways,” Dan said. “You’re in Illinois, right? Anywhere near Chicago?”

“I guess that depends on your definition of near,” Cal replied with a grin. “I’m in Bloomington, center of the state? ISU?”

“Bloomington? Dan asked. “I thought the Fighting Illini were in Champagne Urbana?”

“Really?” Cal asked, turning towards Dan, and giving him the stink eye. “You’d be right if we were talking about The University of Illinois; Illinois State University,” he continued, enunciating all nine syllables of ISU with great care, “is in Normal. We’re fifty-miles west of U of I, much smaller and more intimate.”

“Hmm,” Dan replied, shaking his head as he bit his lower lip. “Illinois State University. Nope, got nothing.”

“Ha! Sorry to hear that. I used to work there as a recruiter.”

“Like, for sports?”

“Oh, God no. My job was to find promising minority students and try to convince them to come to ISU. Nowadays the title would be DEI, though back in my day the focus was on income, race, and sex rather than other types of discrimination.”

“This is boring,” Sam interjected with a sigh.

“Sam!” Connie chastised.

“Oh,” Cal replied, feigning great concern, “I’m sorry. Should we tell the sun to hurry up and go down, so the fireworks’ll start?”

“Grampa! That’s not what I mean. I mean this, this talk. Can I read Wink to you?”

In response to Sam’s question Cal turned towards her, tilted his head down, looked at his granddaughter from the tops of his eyes and cupped his right ear with his hand. Sam, seeing Cal’s pantomime, shook her head, rolled her eyes, and asked, “May I?”

“Sure. We can talk latter, right, Dan?”

“Absolutely,” Dan said with a nod.” What’s this Wink all about, anyway?”

“It’s about a boy named Ross Malloy who has eye cancer and lives in the other Bloomington,” Sam said lightning fast, looking at Cal as she held up her paperback.

“That’s my little joke,” Cal said, the corner of his mouth whispering an aside to Dan, “Indiana University has a campus in Bloomington.”

Dan’s head jerked back minutely as Sam mentioned cancer, but he kept his eyes on her as she spoke. “Ross’s mother died from cancer and now he has it,” she continued. “He draws really cool stuff in a notebook, and he gets bullied online, really, really mean bullying. Ross thinks it’s Jimmy jerk Jenkins who’s bullying him, but it’s not. Jimmy’s real name is just Jimmy Jenkins, and he’s weird but it turns out he’s not a jerk. There’s these doctor’s helpers named Frank and Abby who do medical stuff to him but help him in a lot of other ways, too. Him and Jimmy join a band and become friends and they’re going to compete in a school talent show. I’m almost to the talent show which is where I’ll read from,” she said, opening her book. “Oh! There’s this girl named Sarah Kennedy who Ross is in love with who’s going to move to Minnesota like almost right after the talent show,” Sam said flipping to the correct chapter in the book just as the crowd of people scattered throughout the parking lot cheered in response to the launch of the first firework.

“Really! Really?” she exclaimed, throwing her hands in the air, closing her book, and rolling her eyes before adding, “Whatever.” Still shaking her head, Sam stood and slipped Wink into the big pocket on the back of her folding camping chair. Taking her seat she paused, tilted her head, and said, “Oh. I guess my parents have split up too, haven’t they?”