“I’m tired of the food you serve here, Billy,” Jodie says. She is helping Linda pick the seeds out of a pomegranate.
“We don’t ‘serve’ anything here. This isn’t a restaurant.”
“Do you like pizza, Mr. Morrison?” she calls into the next room.
“Yes.”
“Why don’t you get him a pizza?”
“Because he can’t eat pizza right now, and he isn’t hungry, anyway.”
“Well, all right,” Dad says.
“Dad, since when have you felt hungry? Jodie, didn’t Linda tell you he’s on a restricted diet?”
“Why?” Jodie asks. “He already looks awfully skinny to me.”
“I can’t explain the whole thing to you. It’s very complex, and it involves enzymes and things like that. My mother can tell you.”
“It’s almost time for your wafts, Dad,” Linda says. She puts the bowl containing the pomegranate and its seeds aside. She takes a lemon half out of the refrigerator and peels off the plastic wrap.
“What’s a waft?” Jodie asks.
“It’s a special technique I use, where I squeeze a lemon under his nose and the oil from the lemon’s skin perks up his olfactory bulb.”
“Where is the bulb? Right there in his nose?”
“No, in his brain. So it makes his brain work better.”
“Do you really think it helps?” Jodie asks, as they both hover over Dad in the living room.
“See? Squeeze, stimulate. And that makes his brain better.”
“I can’t believe something like that could really work.”
“Maybe I’ll let you try it sometime after I show you the proper technique.”
“I don’t know if I want to.”
I’m waiting next to Dad with the newspaper that was just delivered, so we can start the crossword puzzle.
“Why are you here again, Jodie?” I ask.
“What do you mean?” A piece of hair with a purple barrette falls in front of Jodie’s eyes, and she bats it back against her freckles.
“You were here yesterday, too. Don’t you have anywhere else to go?”
“I wanted to come over and help Linda.”
“Help her with what? She doesn’t even do anything other than juice a lemon once in a while. I’m the one with all the responsibility here.”
“You don’t seem to me like you’re doing all that much.”
“I am. I have a very ambitious program going on here.”
“I didn’t mean to upset you, Billy.”
“I’m not upset. We just have stuff to do right now. Just keep your opinions to yourself, okay?”