roommates.”
“So you lived in the same neighborhood.”
“Yeah, I guess you could say that.”
“So where’d you grow up?”
Ed returned with their lunches and weaseled a spot closest to Kim, forcing Jimmy to move or be sat on. Lily was glad for the interruption and hoped Kim would take this opportunity to dodge Jimmy’s question. It turned out that little brother brought with him all the help required. Ed opened his cooler and everyone but him pinched their noses at the noxious smell that escaped.
“What the hell you got in there, road kill?” Jimmy bawled through cinched fingers.
Ed answered, “It’s just the egg salad Mom made last week.”
“That shit’s over seven days old. You can’t eat that. You need to bury it.”
“But what am I going to eat? It’s all I brought.”
“Ah, hell.” Jimmy closed his lunch box and stood. “You’ll have to excuse us ladies, but I need to run out and get my little brother some grub. I hope we can try this again real soon.” He shook their hands again and then walked off towards the parking lot with his brother trailing behind. They could hear Jimmy utter, “Smooth. Real smooth, Ed.”
C ertain they were out of earshot, Kim faked her best swoon. “Isn’t he dreamy?”
L ily laughed, “If you say so.”
“Lily, if he comes back another day, would you mind if I claimed him?”
“He’s all yours.”
Jimmy and Ed Rogers returned and joined them for lunch day after day. Kim used her people powers to extract pertinent information from Jimmy, learning that he graduated from college a couple of years ago with a degree in Industrial Engineering and hoped to work his way up in his dad’s construction company to the position of foreman. Ed, just out of high school, skipped college and jumped right into the family business. As Jimmy saw it, he held two jobs, construction worker and babysitter for his brother. There were five siblings in all, the oldest, a sister, married with two little ones, and two more brothers who fell in age between Jimmy and Ed, who also worked for their father.
L unches were passed listening to Jimmy entertain them with outrageous stories of his childhood adventures with his brothers and cousins. Injuries inflicted or endured were most often the theme. "I've had my nose broken three times and each time a different brother was responsible," he began on their third shared lunch break. "The first time it was my brother, Steve's, fault. All of us were out explorin' the woods behind my parents' house when he decided to roll head first down a rocky hill. He'd tell you he was pushed, but that's baloney. He rolled a couple of times and then the lucky bastard slid the rest of the way. The only damage done was to his pride, because once he reached the bottom with not so much as a scratch on him, he couldn't get back up. Did I mention that Steve wasn't very smart?" Ed snorted in agreement. "See, he kept trying to crawl up through the loose gravel rather than use the bigger rocks for hand and foot holds. He looked like he was surfin' on his stomach and gettin' nowhere fast. So I slid down the hill and tried coachin' him up by showin' him where to put his feet and hands. I was below him givin' orders when his foot slipped, crashed into my face, and broke my nose."
Ed chuckled.
Jimmy grabbed his unopened can of soda, shook it, and returned it.
"Hey!" Ed whined.
Jimmy ignored him and continued his story. "By the time we got home, I was covered in blood. My mom caught sight of us and came running out of the house yellin' for my dad to start the truck. 'Jimmy's been shot! Jimmy's been shot!' Once she calmed down enough to hear my explanation, you know what happened?"
Kim and Lily answered together between bites, "What?"
Jimmy smiled. He had his audience's full attention. "My mom grounded me for a week. She said I should have known better than to put my face so close
“So you lived in the same neighborhood.”
“Yeah, I guess you could say that.”
“So where’d you grow up?”
Ed returned with their lunches and weaseled a spot closest to Kim, forcing Jimmy to move or be sat on. Lily was glad for the interruption and hoped Kim would take this opportunity to dodge Jimmy’s question. It turned out that little brother brought with him all the help required. Ed opened his cooler and everyone but him pinched their noses at the noxious smell that escaped.
“What the hell you got in there, road kill?” Jimmy bawled through cinched fingers.
Ed answered, “It’s just the egg salad Mom made last week.”
“That shit’s over seven days old. You can’t eat that. You need to bury it.”
“But what am I going to eat? It’s all I brought.”
“Ah, hell.” Jimmy closed his lunch box and stood. “You’ll have to excuse us ladies, but I need to run out and get my little brother some grub. I hope we can try this again real soon.” He shook their hands again and then walked off towards the parking lot with his brother trailing behind. They could hear Jimmy utter, “Smooth. Real smooth, Ed.”
C ertain they were out of earshot, Kim faked her best swoon. “Isn’t he dreamy?”
L ily laughed, “If you say so.”
“Lily, if he comes back another day, would you mind if I claimed him?”
“He’s all yours.”
Jimmy and Ed Rogers returned and joined them for lunch day after day. Kim used her people powers to extract pertinent information from Jimmy, learning that he graduated from college a couple of years ago with a degree in Industrial Engineering and hoped to work his way up in his dad’s construction company to the position of foreman. Ed, just out of high school, skipped college and jumped right into the family business. As Jimmy saw it, he held two jobs, construction worker and babysitter for his brother. There were five siblings in all, the oldest, a sister, married with two little ones, and two more brothers who fell in age between Jimmy and Ed, who also worked for their father.
L unches were passed listening to Jimmy entertain them with outrageous stories of his childhood adventures with his brothers and cousins. Injuries inflicted or endured were most often the theme. "I've had my nose broken three times and each time a different brother was responsible," he began on their third shared lunch break. "The first time it was my brother, Steve's, fault. All of us were out explorin' the woods behind my parents' house when he decided to roll head first down a rocky hill. He'd tell you he was pushed, but that's baloney. He rolled a couple of times and then the lucky bastard slid the rest of the way. The only damage done was to his pride, because once he reached the bottom with not so much as a scratch on him, he couldn't get back up. Did I mention that Steve wasn't very smart?" Ed snorted in agreement. "See, he kept trying to crawl up through the loose gravel rather than use the bigger rocks for hand and foot holds. He looked like he was surfin' on his stomach and gettin' nowhere fast. So I slid down the hill and tried coachin' him up by showin' him where to put his feet and hands. I was below him givin' orders when his foot slipped, crashed into my face, and broke my nose."
Ed chuckled.
Jimmy grabbed his unopened can of soda, shook it, and returned it.
"Hey!" Ed whined.
Jimmy ignored him and continued his story. "By the time we got home, I was covered in blood. My mom caught sight of us and came running out of the house yellin' for my dad to start the truck. 'Jimmy's been shot! Jimmy's been shot!' Once she calmed down enough to hear my explanation, you know what happened?"
Kim and Lily answered together between bites, "What?"
Jimmy smiled. He had his audience's full attention. "My mom grounded me for a week. She said I should have known better than to put my face so close
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