related or not—that guests should not eat in the kitchen.
Pops brought in place mats and cloth napkins which he set at the places at the end of the table closest to the kitchen. Zarah set out the plates and silverware.
“How was the party Friday night?” Pops rested his forearms on the back of the head chair and watched her finish setting the table.
“I didn’t enjoy it as much as I thought I would. I wasn’t feeling well and had to leave early.” While she knew Kiki would never lie to Pops about anything, she trusted Kiki to keep her promise of confidence. Pops knew the whole story, all about her past with Bobby, but she wasn’t sure she was ready to tell anyone else about Bobby’s role in Friday night’s fiasco.
Over lunch, topics of conversation stayed on safe grounds: the newspaper columnist, Zarah’s job, books they had read recently, and updates from Kiki and Pops about other family members. Though she actively participated in the conversation, during lulls or when she was listening to one of her grandparents speak, her imagination driftedto Boscos, picturing Bobby there, surrounded by at least ten of the pretty, flirtatious, twentysomething girls from the singles’ group. Even if Zarah wanted him back—which she didn’t—she would never stand a chance against those girls. She had no delusions about her looks; her eyes were such a light blue they sometimes appeared to have no color at all, while her nose was, according to her grandmother, a throwback to Kiki’s Greek ancestors. Zarah didn’t know if that were true or not; all she knew was that it was too big, too pointy, and had been the source of much amusement for her classmates in elementary school and middle school. Kiki said it made her unique. Of course, having pretty much the same nose as Zarah, she would say that. Bobby was the only boy she’d ever known who said he thought she was beautiful and didn’t suggest she get a nose job. But with the way things ended, she couldn’t be sure he truly meant anything he had said to her.
Zarah and Pops insisted Kiki sit at the kitchen table while they did the dishes and cleaned up the kitchen. Kiki kept them entertained by reading tidbits from the Lifestyles section of the newspaper.
Though both Kiki and Pops entreated her to stay, just after two o’clock Zarah said her good-byes and left, feeling better than she had in weeks.
Bobby knelt to tie his trainers tighter after his warm-up stretches. He was as quiet as possible descending the stairs. With Greedad dozing in his recliner in the living room and Mamm listening to an audio book while she knitted in the den, Bobby didn’t want to disturb the somnolent atmosphere of the house by crashing down the stairs the way he usually did.
Maximus jostled Bobby at the door, obviously assuming Bobby was going to take him for a walk. Bobby considered taking the long-legged monstrosity with him but then remembered Greedad’s complaints that when he took Maximus out, he spent half the time being dragged and the other half trying to drag the 130-pound dog. Not conducivefor the kind of hard run Bobby needed today.
By the time he managed to shove Maximus far enough back from the door to get out, he’d already had a pretty decent workout, gotten his pulse rate up, and broken a sweat.
With no particular destination in mind, only a desire to clear his head, Bobby headed northwest through the neighborhood of gridlike streets. He noted several five- or six-unit condominium developments along with several town house-style duplexes which had obviously been built to replace smaller, older homes like those that surrounded them. He made a mental note of several for-sale signs, but even though his sense of curiosity led him to want to tour the condos and duplexes in this area, he was pretty sure he wanted to try to get into one of the newer buildings in midtown or closer to downtown. Not only would they have better amenities, but they would be more like what he’d
Pops brought in place mats and cloth napkins which he set at the places at the end of the table closest to the kitchen. Zarah set out the plates and silverware.
“How was the party Friday night?” Pops rested his forearms on the back of the head chair and watched her finish setting the table.
“I didn’t enjoy it as much as I thought I would. I wasn’t feeling well and had to leave early.” While she knew Kiki would never lie to Pops about anything, she trusted Kiki to keep her promise of confidence. Pops knew the whole story, all about her past with Bobby, but she wasn’t sure she was ready to tell anyone else about Bobby’s role in Friday night’s fiasco.
Over lunch, topics of conversation stayed on safe grounds: the newspaper columnist, Zarah’s job, books they had read recently, and updates from Kiki and Pops about other family members. Though she actively participated in the conversation, during lulls or when she was listening to one of her grandparents speak, her imagination driftedto Boscos, picturing Bobby there, surrounded by at least ten of the pretty, flirtatious, twentysomething girls from the singles’ group. Even if Zarah wanted him back—which she didn’t—she would never stand a chance against those girls. She had no delusions about her looks; her eyes were such a light blue they sometimes appeared to have no color at all, while her nose was, according to her grandmother, a throwback to Kiki’s Greek ancestors. Zarah didn’t know if that were true or not; all she knew was that it was too big, too pointy, and had been the source of much amusement for her classmates in elementary school and middle school. Kiki said it made her unique. Of course, having pretty much the same nose as Zarah, she would say that. Bobby was the only boy she’d ever known who said he thought she was beautiful and didn’t suggest she get a nose job. But with the way things ended, she couldn’t be sure he truly meant anything he had said to her.
Zarah and Pops insisted Kiki sit at the kitchen table while they did the dishes and cleaned up the kitchen. Kiki kept them entertained by reading tidbits from the Lifestyles section of the newspaper.
Though both Kiki and Pops entreated her to stay, just after two o’clock Zarah said her good-byes and left, feeling better than she had in weeks.
Bobby knelt to tie his trainers tighter after his warm-up stretches. He was as quiet as possible descending the stairs. With Greedad dozing in his recliner in the living room and Mamm listening to an audio book while she knitted in the den, Bobby didn’t want to disturb the somnolent atmosphere of the house by crashing down the stairs the way he usually did.
Maximus jostled Bobby at the door, obviously assuming Bobby was going to take him for a walk. Bobby considered taking the long-legged monstrosity with him but then remembered Greedad’s complaints that when he took Maximus out, he spent half the time being dragged and the other half trying to drag the 130-pound dog. Not conducivefor the kind of hard run Bobby needed today.
By the time he managed to shove Maximus far enough back from the door to get out, he’d already had a pretty decent workout, gotten his pulse rate up, and broken a sweat.
With no particular destination in mind, only a desire to clear his head, Bobby headed northwest through the neighborhood of gridlike streets. He noted several five- or six-unit condominium developments along with several town house-style duplexes which had obviously been built to replace smaller, older homes like those that surrounded them. He made a mental note of several for-sale signs, but even though his sense of curiosity led him to want to tour the condos and duplexes in this area, he was pretty sure he wanted to try to get into one of the newer buildings in midtown or closer to downtown. Not only would they have better amenities, but they would be more like what he’d
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