Read Online Are We There Yet? by David Levithan - Free Book Online Page B
Authors: David Levithan
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only thing he ever shared with them was an elevator ride.
“So how's your job going this summer?” Danny asks. He's already plowed through his pasta. Elijah has taken two bites.
“It's okay,” Elijah replies. He'd almost forgotten about working in his school's admissions office. It was that kind of job.
“So you sort through applications?”
“Nah. We just file last year's applications. There was this one girl—she painted her whole room the school colors and sent in a photo with her holding a paintbrush. Just to get in.”
“Did she get in?”
“Yes, actually.”
“And that's all you do all day—file? Will that get you into college?”
“Well, we can't all be in
advertising.
”
“What is
that
supposed to mean?”
“Nothing.”
Elijah bends back over his pasta. Danny tries to signal Joseph for more wine, but Joseph is nowhere to be found.
Danny and Elijah are both struck by the abruptness of their conversation. They both know they've gone a little bit too far. They've broken their unwritten agreement—they are allowed to gibe each other, but it's never supposed to get too personal.
Danny had always been too old to beat up Elijah. Even to a ten-year-old, a seven-year difference seems unfair. Danny was not above using force to get his way—an arm twist for the remote control or a shove to get the front seat. But it was not the habitual violence symptomatic of a usual brother-brother relationship.
Instead, Danny showed Elijah the depth of his disdain.There were times of pure love, for sure. But when Danny wanted to strike out, he did it with a shrug, not a fist. If he wanted to, he could pretend Elijah wasn't there. Elijah could preen or caterwaul—whatever he did, he only made it worse in Danny's eyes. Eventually, Elijah gave up. He found his own private universe. And he learned his own form of disdain.
The bad can be found in anything. It is so much easier to find than the good. So when Elijah hears
advertising
, he thinks
sellout
and
phony
and
liar.
Most of all, he thinks,
My brother is so different from me. He is so wrong.
And when Danny hears
I'm going to be an English major when I get to college
, he thinks
pothead fallback
and
no sense of reality
and
penniless.
He thinks,
Anything but me.
Perhaps Joseph senses this divide as he brings the main course. He has brought them different dishes, but knows they will not share. There is sadness in his eyes, because he knows they will not experience the full joy of the meal.
The meal is, in fact, one of the best they've ever had. Even Elijah, who never thinks of food as something that can be enjoyed like a CD, is enraptured.
It is an experience they will talk about for years to come. And, more important, it is a meal they can talk about for the rest of the evening, all the way back to the hotel.
Elijah is nervous when the time comes to pay the check and leave the tip. But Danny surprises him by leaving thirty percent. They both chorus Joseph with thank-yous before they leave into the night. Joseph smiles and pats the two brothers on the back. He watches as they slowly walk to the vaporetto station. Then he returns to their table and pushes the chairs together before he leaves.
They are due to visit Murano the next morning.
Elijah cannot believe it is already their last day in Venice. He feels like he's only just arrived. The prospect of Florence (and furthermore Rome) excites him, but not as much as before. It is the traveler's great dilemma. When he arrived, Elijah had felt he was wandering over vast sands. Now he realizes he's been in an hourglass the whole time.
Will that get you into college?—
Danny's words from last night. His question. The ever-present question.
The applications lie in unopened envelopes. Cal has put them in alphabetical order on his desk. She scribbles comments under the postmarks, the things she's found from visits he hasn't made, information sessions he hasn't even considered.
He knows he's supposed to hate high
“So how's your job going this summer?” Danny asks. He's already plowed through his pasta. Elijah has taken two bites.
“It's okay,” Elijah replies. He'd almost forgotten about working in his school's admissions office. It was that kind of job.
“So you sort through applications?”
“Nah. We just file last year's applications. There was this one girl—she painted her whole room the school colors and sent in a photo with her holding a paintbrush. Just to get in.”
“Did she get in?”
“Yes, actually.”
“And that's all you do all day—file? Will that get you into college?”
“Well, we can't all be in
advertising.
”
“What is
that
supposed to mean?”
“Nothing.”
Elijah bends back over his pasta. Danny tries to signal Joseph for more wine, but Joseph is nowhere to be found.
Danny and Elijah are both struck by the abruptness of their conversation. They both know they've gone a little bit too far. They've broken their unwritten agreement—they are allowed to gibe each other, but it's never supposed to get too personal.
Danny had always been too old to beat up Elijah. Even to a ten-year-old, a seven-year difference seems unfair. Danny was not above using force to get his way—an arm twist for the remote control or a shove to get the front seat. But it was not the habitual violence symptomatic of a usual brother-brother relationship.
Instead, Danny showed Elijah the depth of his disdain.There were times of pure love, for sure. But when Danny wanted to strike out, he did it with a shrug, not a fist. If he wanted to, he could pretend Elijah wasn't there. Elijah could preen or caterwaul—whatever he did, he only made it worse in Danny's eyes. Eventually, Elijah gave up. He found his own private universe. And he learned his own form of disdain.
The bad can be found in anything. It is so much easier to find than the good. So when Elijah hears
advertising
, he thinks
sellout
and
phony
and
liar.
Most of all, he thinks,
My brother is so different from me. He is so wrong.
And when Danny hears
I'm going to be an English major when I get to college
, he thinks
pothead fallback
and
no sense of reality
and
penniless.
He thinks,
Anything but me.
Perhaps Joseph senses this divide as he brings the main course. He has brought them different dishes, but knows they will not share. There is sadness in his eyes, because he knows they will not experience the full joy of the meal.
The meal is, in fact, one of the best they've ever had. Even Elijah, who never thinks of food as something that can be enjoyed like a CD, is enraptured.
It is an experience they will talk about for years to come. And, more important, it is a meal they can talk about for the rest of the evening, all the way back to the hotel.
Elijah is nervous when the time comes to pay the check and leave the tip. But Danny surprises him by leaving thirty percent. They both chorus Joseph with thank-yous before they leave into the night. Joseph smiles and pats the two brothers on the back. He watches as they slowly walk to the vaporetto station. Then he returns to their table and pushes the chairs together before he leaves.
They are due to visit Murano the next morning.
Elijah cannot believe it is already their last day in Venice. He feels like he's only just arrived. The prospect of Florence (and furthermore Rome) excites him, but not as much as before. It is the traveler's great dilemma. When he arrived, Elijah had felt he was wandering over vast sands. Now he realizes he's been in an hourglass the whole time.
Will that get you into college?—
Danny's words from last night. His question. The ever-present question.
The applications lie in unopened envelopes. Cal has put them in alphabetical order on his desk. She scribbles comments under the postmarks, the things she's found from visits he hasn't made, information sessions he hasn't even considered.
He knows he's supposed to hate high
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