fashion model.
She had obviously decided to help herself to whatever she wanted from the store.
And so had the others.
Max and Ulysses were drinking from two-liter bottles of Coke and polishing off one of those five-pound boxes of fancy chocolates. They were joking and laughing, though I still didn’t quite get how they understood each other at all.
Batiste had out a huge set of magic markers and was coloring in a “Bible Stories” coloring book.
Chloe, meanwhile, was in Barbie Heaven. She had one or two of every available Barbie out and ready. She also had a Barbie house and a Barbie sports car and a Barbie pool and a Barbie Jeep and, I don’t know, a Barbie wind farm and a Barbie shoe store and a Barbie NORAD. There were some Bratz thrown in for spice, but in general, it was a Barbie orgy.
Everyone was taking advantage of being locked in a Greenway. Kind of binging.
“Where are the twins?” I asked.
Jake and Brayden didn’t seem to hear.
“Have you guys seen the twins?” I raised my voice.
“No,” Jake said.
That was it. Just no.
“We’re here,” came Henry’s little voice.
* * *
In the next aisle they had built a little house out of toy boxes. It was just big enough for them to get inside. I peeked in. They were curled up in there on a blanket, sucking their thumbs and talking to each other.
“I like how her face is when she smiles,” Caroline said.
“Yeah, and I like her brown pants. The soft ones,” Henry answered.
“And her hair.”
“It’s brown,” Henry said. Caroline nodded, dreamy.
They were talking about their mother.
* * *
“So there’s no plan?” I asked Jake.
“In a while,” he answered. “We’re starting with a little structured downtime. BAM! BULL’S-EYE!”
* * *
I walked away and Alex followed me.
I kicked a box of diapers.
“This is screwed,” I said. “There’s so much work to do. Every single aisle is a freaking disaster zone. Are we supposed to do it all by ourselves?”
Alex put his hand on my arm.
“It’s going to be okay,” he said.
“It’s not,” I said.
All of a sudden I wanted to cry. I felt my face getting red and my breath felt like it was stuck in my throat.
“It will never be okay again,” I said.
I walked off down an aisle, kicking the broken stuff away as I went.
I looked back.
Alex was just standing there, his shoulders sagging. His thin frame bowed over with the weight of the world.
I had to pull it together. I had to take care of my brother.
I wiped my eyes on the back of my hand.
Then I walked back to him.
“I have an idea,” I said.
“What?”
“Monopoly marathon.”
“Yes,” he said simply.
* * *
Every summer our family got a house in Cape May, New Jersey (don’t think about Cape May being gone), for a week. My mom grew up there so we’d eat like kings at all the local restaurants (don’t think about Jaime’s Waffle Stop being gone) since she knew all the locals (don’t think about Jaime). But since my brother and I weren’t really beach types, we’d mostly play Monopoly (Monopoly, safe to think about).
We spent maybe an hour making our own little game-room area. We pushed aside the fallen boxes to clear a space. Then we brought over a card table from the Home Department. We took a mini-fridge and stocked it with sodas. We got a bunch of chips and snacks and what have you. We even draped some beach towels over the aisle dividers to give our game room a beachy feel.
* * *
Somewhere around early afternoon, Niko came and found us. He didn’t say anything, just took a look at what we were doing. We stopped and looked at him. His eyes revealed nothing, which was no surprise. After a moment, he turned and walked away.
* * *
It’s hard to believe you can spend a whole day playing Monopoly, but of course, you can.
My brother and I had very different strategies. I bought everything I could. My brother only ever bought the railroads,
She had obviously decided to help herself to whatever she wanted from the store.
And so had the others.
Max and Ulysses were drinking from two-liter bottles of Coke and polishing off one of those five-pound boxes of fancy chocolates. They were joking and laughing, though I still didn’t quite get how they understood each other at all.
Batiste had out a huge set of magic markers and was coloring in a “Bible Stories” coloring book.
Chloe, meanwhile, was in Barbie Heaven. She had one or two of every available Barbie out and ready. She also had a Barbie house and a Barbie sports car and a Barbie pool and a Barbie Jeep and, I don’t know, a Barbie wind farm and a Barbie shoe store and a Barbie NORAD. There were some Bratz thrown in for spice, but in general, it was a Barbie orgy.
Everyone was taking advantage of being locked in a Greenway. Kind of binging.
“Where are the twins?” I asked.
Jake and Brayden didn’t seem to hear.
“Have you guys seen the twins?” I raised my voice.
“No,” Jake said.
That was it. Just no.
“We’re here,” came Henry’s little voice.
* * *
In the next aisle they had built a little house out of toy boxes. It was just big enough for them to get inside. I peeked in. They were curled up in there on a blanket, sucking their thumbs and talking to each other.
“I like how her face is when she smiles,” Caroline said.
“Yeah, and I like her brown pants. The soft ones,” Henry answered.
“And her hair.”
“It’s brown,” Henry said. Caroline nodded, dreamy.
They were talking about their mother.
* * *
“So there’s no plan?” I asked Jake.
“In a while,” he answered. “We’re starting with a little structured downtime. BAM! BULL’S-EYE!”
* * *
I walked away and Alex followed me.
I kicked a box of diapers.
“This is screwed,” I said. “There’s so much work to do. Every single aisle is a freaking disaster zone. Are we supposed to do it all by ourselves?”
Alex put his hand on my arm.
“It’s going to be okay,” he said.
“It’s not,” I said.
All of a sudden I wanted to cry. I felt my face getting red and my breath felt like it was stuck in my throat.
“It will never be okay again,” I said.
I walked off down an aisle, kicking the broken stuff away as I went.
I looked back.
Alex was just standing there, his shoulders sagging. His thin frame bowed over with the weight of the world.
I had to pull it together. I had to take care of my brother.
I wiped my eyes on the back of my hand.
Then I walked back to him.
“I have an idea,” I said.
“What?”
“Monopoly marathon.”
“Yes,” he said simply.
* * *
Every summer our family got a house in Cape May, New Jersey (don’t think about Cape May being gone), for a week. My mom grew up there so we’d eat like kings at all the local restaurants (don’t think about Jaime’s Waffle Stop being gone) since she knew all the locals (don’t think about Jaime). But since my brother and I weren’t really beach types, we’d mostly play Monopoly (Monopoly, safe to think about).
We spent maybe an hour making our own little game-room area. We pushed aside the fallen boxes to clear a space. Then we brought over a card table from the Home Department. We took a mini-fridge and stocked it with sodas. We got a bunch of chips and snacks and what have you. We even draped some beach towels over the aisle dividers to give our game room a beachy feel.
* * *
Somewhere around early afternoon, Niko came and found us. He didn’t say anything, just took a look at what we were doing. We stopped and looked at him. His eyes revealed nothing, which was no surprise. After a moment, he turned and walked away.
* * *
It’s hard to believe you can spend a whole day playing Monopoly, but of course, you can.
My brother and I had very different strategies. I bought everything I could. My brother only ever bought the railroads,
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