Page 73 of Undeniably Perfect

“Hi, Tabitha,” the kid at the ice cream counter says. It completely startles me. I look around like I might be on some hidden camera television show. Maybe I’m getting punked.

“Hi,” I answer slowly.

“Same as last time?”

I nod slowly and Kent chuckles.

“How about you, Mr.…I mean Kent?”

“Same for me, too, Frankie.”

The kid nods and gets to work on our ice cream.

We settle down at the bistro table outside. Most things are closed for the night, but there are still some people trickling out of the bar and coffee shop. Di walks out of the coffee shop with a laptop under her arm. She waves and walks toward us.

“Hey, what are you two…oh, ice cream. Getting ready for the big game, then?” Di asks.

“Yep…following a ritual.”

Di ruffles Kent’s hair. “Little brother, you are not a man of mystery. I’m excited about tomorrow. I took off and everything. I think Principal Lennox is going to be annoyed, but what the fuck.”

I remember Kent telling me what his siblings all did, but I always mix up Di and Kylie, so I’m relieved when Di mentions the principal. Teacher. I need to remember that she is the teacher, which makes Kylie something about clothes, and Lanie is the lawyer.

“It’s interesting how you all went into such different careers,” I say to them as I lick my ice cream.

“I guess. I mean…it’s not that strange. We are all very different,” Di answers, her head cocked to one side as though she’s contemplating my thought. Then she snickers. “You know what KJ wanted to be if he didn’t make it in baseball?”

Kent glares at her.

“What?” I ask, truly curious as I glance between them.

“An ice cream taste tester,” she says with a giggle.

“That’s not true, I wanted to be an archaeologist like Indiana Jones.”

“No, that was before, but then Mom’s friend, Bernie, came to visit, and he worked for an ice cream company and told you about taste testing.”

“OK, but that was for like a week. And then I wanted to be an astronaut.”

“Oh, and then you wanted to be a rock star, and then what was after that…”

“A psychologist.”

“Oh, right…what you studied.”

“You studied psychology?” I ask Kent, suddenly realizing just how much we haven’t talked about yet.

He nods. “Yeah, that’s what my degree is in.”

“Wow, I had no idea.”

“Well, I should get home and grade some quizzes. I’ll leave you two lovebirds to the pre-game ritual. Good luck tomorrow, Kent.”

“Thanks.”

They hug, and Di hugs me and walks off. “Where does she live?” I ask.

“Oh, uh, Di lives just down the road in an apartment. Kylie lives not far in an apartment and Lanie has a house just off Main Street.”

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