Part 11 (1/2)
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but he took a thoughtful pause and asked, ”Can you go fi rst? I need a minute to think.”
”Don't think while I'm talking because then you're not listening.”
”Thanks, Mom.”
I fl ipped him off pleasantly and said, ”I'm getting drinks. You think about your half and half while I get us pop. What do you want?”
”c.o.ke.”
I walked behind the counter to the drink fountain. Ila, a gor- geous women's studies major with waist- length strawberry- blond hair, worked the register. ”Who's that?” She waggled her eyebrows at me.
I could've been jealous at the thought of not only a college girl, but a beautiful one at that, ogling Leo, but Ila was a lesbian with the cutest girlfriend who, when not going to school full- time, worked as a carpenter.
”That's Leo. From my school.”
”Is he your boyfriend?” she asked, completely ignoring the backup of customers. Part of the charm of Cellar.
”No. I don't think so. I don't know what he is. I barely know him, really.” I pumped the pop out of the fountain into two worn, plastic tumblers.
”But you want to know him, right?” Ila was overdoing the innu- endo, but I liked the big- sisterly vibe.
”Yes. But I don't know. We'll see. s.h.i.+t doesn't seem to work out very well for me lately. Or ever.”
”Hopefully this isn't s.h.i.+t then.” Ila started taking orders again, and I delivered our drinks.
”Thanks,” Leo said. ”I thought of my halves, unless you want to -1- go fi rst.”
0- ”After you.”
1-
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”My half empty is that my brother is still in Sangin, and my par- ents are constantly terrifi ed. We don't know when he's coming home.
And my mom has these screaming nightmares about it.”
”That is half empty. Are you close with your brother?”
”Yeah. I mean, he's kind of the favorite in the family. My parents wors.h.i.+p him. He's annoyingly perfect. And I'm the family f.u.c.kup.”
”You don't seem like such a f.u.c.kup.” I sipped my c.o.ke through the straw.
”You must have heard some things.”
”Yeah, but not from you.”
”Probably everything you heard was true.”
”So you slept with Mrs. Johansen, the chorus teacher with the lazy eye?” I asked agape.
”No,” he blurted.
”You've been to jail?”
”No.”
”You have a tattoo on your a.s.s that reads, 'Kiss this'?”
”Are you kidding me? Who said that?”
”I just made that up. But that would've been awesome if you did.”
”Maybe you can give it to me.”
”What do you mean?” I smiled over the straw at the insinuation that I could give him a tattoo.
”Don't you have a homemade one?”
”How did you know that?” I could barely contain the rush of Leo Dietz knowing a private factoid about me.