When Friendship Followed Me Home by Paul Griffin

little,” Interstellar Media Specialist Penny Lorentz called to us from the kitchen. We went out and got the sauce and hurried back for the feast.

26
    HALLEY’S RAP
    The latkes were the size of waffles. We all snuck Flip pieces of brisket, which made no sense since everybody knew everybody else was sneaking. After dessert we played Scrabble for Cheez-Its and blue M&M’S. Mr. Lorentz started whistling a song from the musical
Man of La Mancha
, Halley told me. It was Mercurious’s favorite apparently, and then Mrs. Lorentz started singing the words, and before you knew it we all were singing about this old man who never gives up, who keeps on keeping on no matter how bad things get, and then Halley said, “I feel a song coming on, a Halley Lorentz original if you please, oh yes I do.”
    â€œThen sing it,” Mercurious said.
    â€œPoppers, bass beat please,” she said. He laid it down, like really getting into it with some serious head bopping, and then she said, “Okay that’s actually totally adorably lame, but it will suffice.” Then she rapped:
    Got me a bestie, his name’s Ben.
    He can’t see it, but he kills with the pen.
    Poet don’t know it, you’ve heard that before,
    My boy’s got stories, paste you to the floor.
    He saved a dog, see, a friend to the end.
    He saves me daily, Halley Lorentz.
    How you heal me, you and mighty mutt Flip?
    All’s I can say is you make me feel hip.
    Bad comes to worse, and you don’t give in.
    You don’t mope or lose hope, you honor your kin.
    You hustle those coupons come rain or shine.
    You keep on keeping on in the toughest of times.
    Rosh Hashanah means New Year, new wonder—you’ll see.
    Mom and Mercurious, Flip, you and me.
    She raised her glass of sparkling cider. “Shanah Tovah, everybody. Happy New Year. I’m so grateful that we’re all here together.”
    Her mom patted my back and said quietly, “Yes, we’re
all
here. We’re
here.
” She touched her fingertip to my heart. Then she messed up my hair the way Mom used to and kissed my forehead and hugged me and didn’t let go.
    Mercurious pointed to the window. A gold laser beam pulsed from his finger and hit the glass, and a silent explosion of fireworks lit up the sky over Brighton Beach and in the distance Luna Park.
Dreamland at Night.
I knew it was only video projection, but it was shiny and beautiful and I wanted it to be real. The rides were spinning and the lights whirled.

27
    THE RINGSIDE SEAT
    They drove me home in Mr. Lorentz’s sparkly purple SUV, and the whole way there we sang
Man of La Mancha
, and then that turned into pop songs, then somehow Christmas carols—in September—and then Halley’s song. Flip tried to sing along too. “He’s halfway between howling and that warbling sound Gizmo makes in
Gremlins
,” Halley said. The more we laughed at him, the more he did it.
    The Mercurious-mobile pulled up to the house, and I pretended I wasn’t the third saddest I’d ever been, having to get out of that car. The house lights were off, and the Lorentz family waited for me to get inside before they drove away. I clicked on the light and Flip whimpered. Leo was sitting on the couch—just sitting there, no TV, no iPad or music. I said hi and he shook his head. His eyes were glassy. “Jeanie’s pretty mad.”
    â€œWhy? What’d I do?” I said.
    â€œAt
me.
Why didn’t you wake me up?”
    â€œI tried, I swear.”
    â€œThen you didn’t try hard enough,” he said. He was talking funny, quiet, slow-motion. “I thought I hit snooze, but I hit off instead.”
    â€œIt worked out anyway.”
    â€œFor
you
it worked out,” he said. “I look like the bad guy now. To her anyhow. Speak of the devil.”
    Aunt Jeanie came in with red wet eyes. “Hi,” she said. She had a pretty wooden box under her arm, a