sit upstairs and watch out my window until Keith wakes up. If he wants me to come over, he will wave. Then we will sit together in his cockpit and eat cinnamon rolls or doughnuts. It does not matter if it is cold or raining. I feed seagulls pieces of my doughnut, which makes Keith mad.
“Jesus, Per! Don’t encourage the little shits!” He throws empty beer cans at them, but never hits any because aluminum beer cans are too light. They end up in the water and he has to get a net with a long handle and scoop them up out of the Sound so the harbormaster doesn’t get pissed off.
“Don’t feed them, Per!” he says. “Please?”
“Okay.” I like seagulls except when they crap on things. Their crap is powerful and can corrode paint off a car.
“See what happened to Yo? That’s all from seagull shit!” Keith says.
“I didn’t know bird crap could rot, rust, and dent trucks. I think that is amazing,” I say.
“Don’t be smart, Per!” Keith sounds just like Gram, and I laugh.
I do not have to share the Sunday paper at home, because Keith is not interested in the newspaper except for sports. That makes me sad because I like to share. It takes me all week to read the paper. Gram used to say I got my money’s worth. Getting your money’s worth is funny. I mean, you mostly get something for money, except maybe when you sell a house.
Cherry works the register at Marina Handy Mart. She has a pretty smile and a beautiful face. I like to take my time and visit on Sundays. It is hard not to stare. Sometimes there is lipstick on her teeth, but it is rude to tell her that. You can only look and wish she would take her fingernail and peel it off.
“I’m sorry about your Gram,” she says, and plays with the silver ball on her tongue. Cherry looks sorry. I hear her click the stud against her teeth. Gram would always make her laugh. She would call her Apple or Banana for fun.
“That’s what you get for having fruit as a name!” Gram would cackle and Cherry would giggle.
But Gram is not here.
“Give me five Lotto tickets and a Slurpee, please.” I set a bag of Hershey’s Kisses on the counter. I do not pick up the Enquirer.
“Don’t you want the paper?” Cherry’s hair is very colorful. It is green and blue stripes with brown.
“No.” My throat is tight and my eyes fill with water like from sad movies.
“You can do the puzzle, you know. It might make you feel better,” she says. Her eyes are dark brown like a seal except they are not wet.
“Okay, then.” I have a hard time getting words out of my mouth.
“Cherry is a very nice girl,” Gram would say. “Even though she has earrings all over her face and tattoos up her butt!”
Nice is when you look like you mean the things you say. I do not think Cherry has tattoos up her butt. She has a flower on her shoulder, a cat on one arm, and a chain thing around her ankle. Cherry told me the only one that hurt was the one on her foot. That is because it was on bone.
“The ones that hurt are close to the bone,” she says.
Being without Gram is close to the bone, I think. I want to stay and talk to Cherry, but I do not know what to say. There are other people in line, so I leave. I pretend that Gram is walking along with me so I do not get lonely. I imagine her just behind.
“Come on, Gram,” I say. “Hurry up. We need to get home.”
It is hard to turn around and see that she is not there.
Like bone, I think.
I check my lottery tickets on Sunday. When no numbers match, I throw the tickets into the trash. I work on the crossword for six days straight. I get three answers, but it is harder without Gram. I answer seven down, three down, and two across.
Downs are always easier than acrosses. Crossword puzzles are difficult when there is no one to help. Most things in life are difficult, Gram used to say.
Everything is harder without Gram.
I ran out of milk for my oatmeal, so I wanted to go to QFC grocery store. My bus pass was no good and I
“Jesus, Per! Don’t encourage the little shits!” He throws empty beer cans at them, but never hits any because aluminum beer cans are too light. They end up in the water and he has to get a net with a long handle and scoop them up out of the Sound so the harbormaster doesn’t get pissed off.
“Don’t feed them, Per!” he says. “Please?”
“Okay.” I like seagulls except when they crap on things. Their crap is powerful and can corrode paint off a car.
“See what happened to Yo? That’s all from seagull shit!” Keith says.
“I didn’t know bird crap could rot, rust, and dent trucks. I think that is amazing,” I say.
“Don’t be smart, Per!” Keith sounds just like Gram, and I laugh.
I do not have to share the Sunday paper at home, because Keith is not interested in the newspaper except for sports. That makes me sad because I like to share. It takes me all week to read the paper. Gram used to say I got my money’s worth. Getting your money’s worth is funny. I mean, you mostly get something for money, except maybe when you sell a house.
Cherry works the register at Marina Handy Mart. She has a pretty smile and a beautiful face. I like to take my time and visit on Sundays. It is hard not to stare. Sometimes there is lipstick on her teeth, but it is rude to tell her that. You can only look and wish she would take her fingernail and peel it off.
“I’m sorry about your Gram,” she says, and plays with the silver ball on her tongue. Cherry looks sorry. I hear her click the stud against her teeth. Gram would always make her laugh. She would call her Apple or Banana for fun.
“That’s what you get for having fruit as a name!” Gram would cackle and Cherry would giggle.
But Gram is not here.
“Give me five Lotto tickets and a Slurpee, please.” I set a bag of Hershey’s Kisses on the counter. I do not pick up the Enquirer.
“Don’t you want the paper?” Cherry’s hair is very colorful. It is green and blue stripes with brown.
“No.” My throat is tight and my eyes fill with water like from sad movies.
“You can do the puzzle, you know. It might make you feel better,” she says. Her eyes are dark brown like a seal except they are not wet.
“Okay, then.” I have a hard time getting words out of my mouth.
“Cherry is a very nice girl,” Gram would say. “Even though she has earrings all over her face and tattoos up her butt!”
Nice is when you look like you mean the things you say. I do not think Cherry has tattoos up her butt. She has a flower on her shoulder, a cat on one arm, and a chain thing around her ankle. Cherry told me the only one that hurt was the one on her foot. That is because it was on bone.
“The ones that hurt are close to the bone,” she says.
Being without Gram is close to the bone, I think. I want to stay and talk to Cherry, but I do not know what to say. There are other people in line, so I leave. I pretend that Gram is walking along with me so I do not get lonely. I imagine her just behind.
“Come on, Gram,” I say. “Hurry up. We need to get home.”
It is hard to turn around and see that she is not there.
Like bone, I think.
I check my lottery tickets on Sunday. When no numbers match, I throw the tickets into the trash. I work on the crossword for six days straight. I get three answers, but it is harder without Gram. I answer seven down, three down, and two across.
Downs are always easier than acrosses. Crossword puzzles are difficult when there is no one to help. Most things in life are difficult, Gram used to say.
Everything is harder without Gram.
I ran out of milk for my oatmeal, so I wanted to go to QFC grocery store. My bus pass was no good and I
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