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The phone rang at 7:15, and his randers on a bookshelf Why didn’t his parents want call waiting? Everyone had call waiting His grandparents had call waiting And why couldn’t his grandht next door
‘No, I don’t think so,’ his mother said ‘ Sixty Minutes always on Sunday … Maybe you think of Twenty-Twenty? No? … John Stos-sel? No?
… Geraldo Rivera? Di-anne Sawyer?’
Park gently banged his head against the living room wall
‘God da with you?’
His dad and Josh were trying to watch The A-Tea I’irlfriend calling?’ Josh asked
‘Park’s dating Big Red’
‘She’s not--’ Park caught hi and clenched his fists ‘If I ever hear you call her that again, I’ll kill you I’ll literally kill you I’ll go to jail for the rest of my life, and it’ll break Mom’s heart, but I will Kill You’
His dad looked at Park like he always did, like he was trying to figure out what the fk rong with hiirlfriend?’ he asked Josh ‘Why do they call her Big Red?’
‘I think it’s because she has red hair and giant tits,’ Josh said
‘No way, dirty mouth,’ their mother said She held her hand over the phone ‘You’ – she pointed at Josh – ‘in your room Now’
‘But, Mom, The A-Team is on’
‘You heard your et to talk like that in this house’
‘You talk like that,’ Josh said, dragging himself off the couch
‘I’m thirty-nine years old,’ their dad said,
‘and a decorated veteran I’ll say whatever the hell I want’
Their ernail at his dad and covered the phone again ‘I’ll send you to your roo a throw pillow at her
‘Hugh Downs?’ Park’s mom said into the phone The pillow fell on the floor and she picked it up ‘No? … Okay, I’ll keep thinking
Okay Love you Okay, bye-bye’
As soon as she hung up, the phone rang Park sprung away frorinned at him His mom answered the phone
‘Hello?’ she said ‘Yes, one moment please’
She looked at Park ‘Telephone’
‘Can I take it inRed’
Park ran into his room, then stopped to catch his breath before he picked up the phone He couldn’t He picked it up anyway
‘I got it, Mom, thanks’
He waited for the click ‘Hello?’
‘Hi,’ Eleanor said He felt all of the tension rush out of him Without it, he could hardly stand up
‘Hi,’ he breathed
She giggled
‘What?’ he said
‘I don’t know,’ she said ‘Hi’
‘I didn’t think you were going to call’
‘It’s not even 7:30’
‘Yeah, well … is your brother asleep?’
‘He’s not aged to his le Rock’
Park carefully picked up the phone and carried it to his bed He sat down gently He didn’t want her to hear anything He didn’t want her to know he had a twin-sized waterbed and a phone shaped like a Ferrari
‘What ti hoet a babysitter’
‘Cool’
She giggled again
‘ What? ’ he asked
‘I don’t know,’ she said, ‘I feel like you’re whispering inback on his pillows
‘Yeah, but it’s usually about, like, Magneto or soher on the phone, and richer, like he was listening to it on headphones
‘I’ht that I could say on the bus or during English class,’ he said
‘And I’ that I can’t say in front of a three-year-old’
‘Nice’
‘I’noring s we can’t say on the bus’
‘Things we can’t say on the bus – go’
‘I hate those people,’ she said
He laughed, then thought of Tina and was glad that Eleanor couldn’t see his face ‘Me, too, souess I’m used to them
I’ve known hbor’
‘How did that happen?’
‘What do you mean?’ he asked
‘I mean, you don’t seem like you’re from there …’
‘Because I’uess I don’t really knohat that means’
‘Me neither,’ he said
‘What do you mean? Are you adopted?’
‘No My mom’s from Korea She just doesn’t talk about it very much’
‘How did she end up in the Flats?’
‘My dad He served in Korea, they fell in love, and he brought her back’
‘Wow, really?’
‘Yeah’
‘That’s pretty romantic’
Eleanor didn’t know the half of it; his parents were probably uess so,’ he said
‘That’s not what I h I meant …
that you’re different frohborhood, you know?’
Of course he knew They’d all been telling him so his whole life When Tina liked Park instead of Steve in grade school, Steve had said, ‘I think she feels safe with you because you’re like half girl’ Park hated football He cried when his dad took hihborhood could ever tell who he was dressed as on Halloween (‘I’m Doctor Who’ ‘I’m Harpo Marx’ ‘I’ive hihts
Park kneas different
‘No,’ he said ‘I don’t know’
‘You …’ she said, ‘you’re so … cool’
Eleanor
‘Cool?’ he said
God She couldn’t believe she’d said that
Talk about uncool Like the opposite of cool
Like, if you looked up ‘cool’ in the dictionary, there’d be a photo of so with you, Eleanor?’