O

They did it again

 

I write that to my Mom on a wet napkin with a purple crayon the nice waitress lady gave me    She gave me all other crayons too and even extra pictures to color

 

Mom takes out a green clicky pen that says Tacitus Savings Bank    My Mom works there behind the big desk    Now we are across the street at the diner with her work friends

 

My name is Wesley Kar Jr by the way    So is my Dad’s if you hadn’t already guessed[1]

 

She folds the napkin over and sees her other face in the glass table    Oh no I need lipstick she says    She goes back into her purse and grabs a little flip up mirror and some light pink lipstick and starts to pop her lips    I seen some girls at school do this at their cubbies    Then Mom makes a O and puts the lipstick on    Then she pops her lips again before writing back    I hope they don’t mind us writing on their napkins

 

What did they do Wes

 

She writes it without a question mark like she’s in a hurry    Or like if she knew the answer

 

Pointing

 

Who was pointing

 

Everyone

 

When did this happen

 

At S and T

 

Me and Mom do this a lot so we try to shorten stuff to save time    S and T means show and tell    Show and tell means a time in class when you bring like a toy from home and talk about it    I brought a ghost made out of a tissue and a rubber band and a popsicle stick that Mom showed me how to make    I like ghosts because they don’t need to talk for people to know they are there

 

Mom coughs and takes a sip of her water from a straw    I am jealous    I imagine what it is like to sip from a straw even if the boys at school think it’s sissy    It ain’t sissy    It’s just another way to drink    Probably cleaner too    No one has ever used the straw you’re drinking from as far as I know    You’re the first one    It’s clean as far as I know    They say drinking from cans is bad now    The news said rats pee on them in the factory    Plus it tastes nasty    Tastes like aluminum    I don’t know anyone that likes the taste of aluminum    Straws don’t taste I read    They’re just there for you

 

Mom writes And what happened

 

I looked back at Mrs Arnold cause I didn’t know what to do

 

And what did she do

 

She just looked at me and nodded her head towards the class like I was supposed to continue

 

You did right

 

Yeah for a second then I turned back again and she had her finger in number one position over her O

 

Then

 

The kids got quiet and stopped moving they stopped pointing and laughing but I could tell where their eyes were

 

Where do you think they were

 

Mom takes another sip    The diner’s front door bell makes a sound like ding-ding    A woman walks in with two loud kids like about my size    One’s a girl like Mom    The woman is shaking the boy and saying be quiet be quiet shut up already

 

Below my nose and above my chin

 

Mom points to her O

 

Yes

 

Baby doll that’s just how you were born

 

Mom looks up and away from me even though I’m pretty sure there is nothing to look at    I hear her sniffle

 

It’s okay to be like you are

 

She stops again and puts her head down    I can’t see her face because her hair is covering it    She looks back up and pushes her hair back

 

She writes You’re special like that

 

She puts a smiley face at the end

 

I wish I had a O

 

I write that to my Mom and then we leave

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[1] From the journal of Wesley Kar Jr  �" April 13, 2008: I was mad at Dad when I found out his name was my name    I had sort of figured I had the name first    Here is my Dad taking my good name and using it for himself    I found this out when Mom brought out a small round cake with all candles on it    Our family that was able to show sang a song and was saying MAKE A WISH AND BLOW OUT THE CANDLES! COME ON MAKE A WISH THEN THE CANDLES YOU KNOW WHAT TO DO BLOW THEM OUT    So I made a wish    Mom and Dad said I can’t say the wish or else it won’t come true    They told me it’s an official birthday rule made by God Himself    I don’t like to break rules as it is    Especially God’s rules    Mom and Dad said that if I break God’s rules that I will go to The Hot Place    Dad told me to imagine The Hot Place not as a place at all but more as a feeling    He said imagine being hot and sweaty all day and never being able to take a drink of water    He said basically what happens is you feel so bad and want to be so good but you never can and never will    But then at my birthday I was trying to blow out the candles and everyone let out this sigh    They said aw and oh    They made the sound cause I was standing over the cake and trying to blow out the candles but I couldn’t    And worse it wasn’t even my right to try and blow them out    It wasn’t my birthday    It was Dad’s    I thought cause it said “Happy Birthday Wes” on the cake that it was my birthday but it wasn’t    It was Dad’s    His name is Wes too    I wrote sorry to him on a paper plate    He wrote back it’s ok you can blow out my candles if you want to    I love you