Page 7 of The Sky in Summer
“You went to Wilson?”
“Class of nineteen eighty-eight!”
“Oh my God! Layla?MyLayla with the braids and the two missing front teeth?”
“Bingo!”
The light dawns. Memory returns. It is all on his face.
“This is so cool!” Barbra chuckles.
Van’s expression transforms. He’s got a secret.
“I’ve been in love with you since I was five.”
“Was it the space in my teeth?”
He doesn’t answer at first, but blue eyes hold steady on me. Then he dazzles with a smile.
“I never met another woman as cool as you were. You ruined me, mon cheri.”
Oh, he remembered. Or he calls all women by the name. That’s probably it.
“You are delusional.”
“I knew I chose well,” he says, looking around at our tablemates. “Even at five.”
He reaches across the table. We grasp each other’s hand and genuine feelings of nostalgia reflect in our eyes. Warm fingers wrap around mine. Sharing such a sweet moment in time, the memories settle. Then the misbehaving boy resurfaces.
“The last time I saw you, your pants were down.”
That results in laughter from some at the table. Sam and Teddy think their uncle Van is a comedic genius. Barbra likes it fine. Tyler and David are holding back their opinions. They aren’t sure about this story, so I put them at ease.
“We were in kindergarten, in the closet playing doctor. It was very innocent.”
The text he just got gets looked at, then dismissed. Immediately the attention returns to me.
“Not really. You showed me your butt. I never forgot the sight.”
“I’m sure it was a monumental moment in your life.”
The table is engaged now, laughing and waiting for more details.
“Did you miss me?” Van asks. “Come on. I know you did.”
We pick up right where we left off at five years old. He the tease, me the target. But like my child self, there’s no way I will take it laying down. You forget friend, I am your equal.
“Think you have that backwards, Frenchie.Youmissedme. I was the one who had to move just to get away from you,” I volley.
Van’s face softens.
“Now that I think of it, you may be right. I didn’t know where you had gone. When first grade started you weren’t there. I remember missing my playmate.”
“Ohhh,” Barbra sighs and clutches her heart as if hearing a star-crossed lovers’ tragedy.
“Me too. The adults didn’t explain things clearly.”
He smiles and doesn’t break the stare. Others at the table become surprisingly quiet. Especially considering four teenagers and my sister sit watching. It’s David who breaks the spell.
