serious, right! said Thebes. This kid is driving me crazy, trust me. Weâre taking him to a, like a, like an al-Qaeda training camp, but not really. Itâs one of those boot camps forâ
I grabbed the phone out of her hand and said hello. There was silence on the other end. Whoever Thebes had been talking to had hung up. Should I call back? I asked Logan.
No, donât bother, he said, it wonât make any difference. Theyâll figure it out.
I called Thebesâs school and told the secretary that we were going on a road trip so Thebes wouldnât be there for a week or so. The woman said Thebes was a great student and it wouldnât make any difference.
Is this Min? asked the woman.
No, I said. This is Minâs sister.
Oh, said the woman, is everything okay at home?
Mostly, I said. More or less. The woman said she hoped we had a great time. Well, thank you! I said.
Yeah, umâ¦, she said.
Is there a problem? I asked her.
No, no, no, she said, thereâs not a problem. Itâs just that Thebes, you knowâ¦well, she regrets being born.
What? I said. What do you mean?
She said it again, today, said the woman.
Today? I thought. After her hyper, jazzed-up start in the morning?
She doesnât want anybody to know, said the woman. Particularly her mother. She doesnât want to worry her.
Yeah, I said.
The woman asked me if I knew that Thebes had written something on the girlsâ bathroom wall in indelible ink.
No, I said, I didnât know that. I looked at Thebes. She was stuffing coloured construction paper into a backpack. What did she write? I whispered.
The woman said Thebes had written, Wanna do a walk-around in dreamtime, gonna seek my old bush soul.
Thatâs what she wrote on the bathroom wall?
Mmmm, yeah, said the woman. She had to paint over it because the custodian couldnât get it off with soap.
Okay, I said, well, thanks for letting me know. Thebes had finished filling her backpack with paper and was drawing something on her foot. I hung up and told Thebes that everything was cool at her school. Theyâll miss you, though, I said.
Oh, they donât care, Thebes said. We donât do anything in June anyway except clean up and have talking circles and go on lame field trips to the mint and I always have to be partners with Rajbeer because heâs new and shy and my teacher pretends that he needs me instead of admitting the truth, which is that nobody else wants to be my partner. I donât even think Rajbeer wants to be my partner but heâs forced to be. He doesnât even think Iâm a person.
Logan put his arm around Thebes. Itâs not easy being a girl, he said. Like you, he added.
True dat, my brotha, said Thebes. She stopped drawing on her foot and wrapped her arms around his skinny waist.
But, Thebie, he said, just remember youâre a little white kid. He rubbed her matted purple head. She snapped the elastic waistband of his boxers, which were foaming out around the top of his XXX pants. You donât always have to talk like Chuck D, or whatever. In fact, I really wish you wouldnât, especially on the road, like, in America. âCause thatâll be really embarrassing.
Dawg, said Thebes, I gottaâ
Seriously, Thebie. You have to stop doing that.
Oh, fine, said Thebes. She looked tired, a little deflated.
I sat at the dining room table and drew a map of the universe as I knew it at that precise moment. The planet of Min, the planet of Cherkis, the stars of Thebes and Logan, vast and perilous milky distances in between. Enemy space stations in the form of foster homes and me as a UFO. Min didnât want to see her kids. Min didnât want to see me. Her kids wanted nothing more than to be with her. I wanted my sister back. Cherkis had wanted to be with his kids but Min had sent him packing. Min says sheâll kill herself if Cherkis takes the kids but now she seems to want to die
I grabbed the phone out of her hand and said hello. There was silence on the other end. Whoever Thebes had been talking to had hung up. Should I call back? I asked Logan.
No, donât bother, he said, it wonât make any difference. Theyâll figure it out.
I called Thebesâs school and told the secretary that we were going on a road trip so Thebes wouldnât be there for a week or so. The woman said Thebes was a great student and it wouldnât make any difference.
Is this Min? asked the woman.
No, I said. This is Minâs sister.
Oh, said the woman, is everything okay at home?
Mostly, I said. More or less. The woman said she hoped we had a great time. Well, thank you! I said.
Yeah, umâ¦, she said.
Is there a problem? I asked her.
No, no, no, she said, thereâs not a problem. Itâs just that Thebes, you knowâ¦well, she regrets being born.
What? I said. What do you mean?
She said it again, today, said the woman.
Today? I thought. After her hyper, jazzed-up start in the morning?
She doesnât want anybody to know, said the woman. Particularly her mother. She doesnât want to worry her.
Yeah, I said.
The woman asked me if I knew that Thebes had written something on the girlsâ bathroom wall in indelible ink.
No, I said, I didnât know that. I looked at Thebes. She was stuffing coloured construction paper into a backpack. What did she write? I whispered.
The woman said Thebes had written, Wanna do a walk-around in dreamtime, gonna seek my old bush soul.
Thatâs what she wrote on the bathroom wall?
Mmmm, yeah, said the woman. She had to paint over it because the custodian couldnât get it off with soap.
Okay, I said, well, thanks for letting me know. Thebes had finished filling her backpack with paper and was drawing something on her foot. I hung up and told Thebes that everything was cool at her school. Theyâll miss you, though, I said.
Oh, they donât care, Thebes said. We donât do anything in June anyway except clean up and have talking circles and go on lame field trips to the mint and I always have to be partners with Rajbeer because heâs new and shy and my teacher pretends that he needs me instead of admitting the truth, which is that nobody else wants to be my partner. I donât even think Rajbeer wants to be my partner but heâs forced to be. He doesnât even think Iâm a person.
Logan put his arm around Thebes. Itâs not easy being a girl, he said. Like you, he added.
True dat, my brotha, said Thebes. She stopped drawing on her foot and wrapped her arms around his skinny waist.
But, Thebie, he said, just remember youâre a little white kid. He rubbed her matted purple head. She snapped the elastic waistband of his boxers, which were foaming out around the top of his XXX pants. You donât always have to talk like Chuck D, or whatever. In fact, I really wish you wouldnât, especially on the road, like, in America. âCause thatâll be really embarrassing.
Dawg, said Thebes, I gottaâ
Seriously, Thebie. You have to stop doing that.
Oh, fine, said Thebes. She looked tired, a little deflated.
I sat at the dining room table and drew a map of the universe as I knew it at that precise moment. The planet of Min, the planet of Cherkis, the stars of Thebes and Logan, vast and perilous milky distances in between. Enemy space stations in the form of foster homes and me as a UFO. Min didnât want to see her kids. Min didnât want to see me. Her kids wanted nothing more than to be with her. I wanted my sister back. Cherkis had wanted to be with his kids but Min had sent him packing. Min says sheâll kill herself if Cherkis takes the kids but now she seems to want to die
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