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"Nice. I have a great bag that would go with those shoes,

  too. Let me go grab it."

  "Stela," my dad broke in. "We're going to be late."

  Stela fixed him with a look that put him in his place.

  "Vince, realy. It's ten minutes away. Let me just run up

  and grab the bag for Paige."

  My dad folowed her with a fond look as she ran up the

  stairs. He always looked at her that way, as though he was

  granting her every wish and it made him happy to do it. It

  probably did. I sometimes wondered if he'd ever looked at

  my mom that way.

  "Where are the boys?" I asked him.

  He waved a hand toward the den. "In there, somewhere."

  "Have a good time," I told him just as Stela reappeared

  with a truly monstrous purse.

  She handed it to me with a beaming smile. "Here. Won't

  they match just perfectly?"

  I looked at my pointy-toed boots and then at the bag.

  They were both black but that was where any matching I

  saw ended. The bag sported several huge gold buckles,

  and the straps had been braided with gold lamé. Tassels

  dangled. That purse had more bling than Flava Flav's

  mouth.

  I thanked her anyway, but she held the purse back when I

  reached for it. Stela shook her head slowly and eyed me.

  She put the bag on the kitchen table.

  "No. You know, that's not realy for you, after al. It's not

  realy your style, is it, Paige?"

  I was too surprised that she thought I had a style to

  disagree even for politeness. "No. Not realy."

  "Stela. Time." My dad tapped his watch.

  She sighed. "Oh, wel. I thought it would look so cute with

  those boots, but honestly, Paige, you've got a much…

  cleaner…style. Now."

  It wasn't the cleanest of compliments, but I smiled anyway.

  "You'd better get going."

  In a cloud of perfume and the jingle of jewelry, she finaly

  alowed him to pul her away. I walked them to the front

  door and closed it after them, but it took me until I

  reached the kitchen again to realize something. Even a few

  months ago, Stela's compliment would have had me

  buzzing with resentful gratitude. Now…it wasn't that I

  didn't care. It was more that it didn't matter.

  My phone buzzed against my thigh and I puled it out with

  a smile.

  Just showered. Am eating a turkey sandwich. Have a

  video to watch. I'm alone on a Saturday night.

  He might be expecting an answer, but that wasn't part of

  the plan, so I put my phone back in my pocket and turned

  my attention to my own dinner.

  "Paige!" Tyler bounced into view as I opened the oven and

  puled out the pizza, cheese overbrowned. "Guess what!"

  I set the pizza on the special marble trivets Stela had

  ordered from Italy when they redid their kitchen. "What."

  ordered from Italy when they redid their kitchen. "What."

  "I got al the way up to level seventeen on Windago

  Diamond! C'mon, come and see!" Tyler tugged at my

  hand stil covered in the hot mitt.

  "Give me a minute, Ty." Together we studied the pizza.

  He made a face. "Do we have to eat that?"

  "I thought you loved pizza."

  He leaned forward. "But it's gross."

  "Yeah. Sorry, kiddo, it's what your mom left."

  He sighed and leaned on the counter. "Can I have peanut

  butter and jely?"

  Wow. If the kid was giving up pizza in favor of PB & J

  that was pretty bad. "What if I take you guys out? Want to

  go to Jungle Java or someplace?"

  They had pizza there, overpriced and not much better than

  the one Stela had left. At least it wouldn't be burned. And

  yeah, it was a little selfish of me. If the boys were running

  rampant through the playground or in the arcade I could sit

  rampant through the playground or in the arcade I could sit

  and read my magazines in as much peace as the constant

  noise would alow me.

  "Yesss!" Tyler pumped his fist in the air. "Jeremy, c'mon, let's go! Paige is going to take us to Jungle Java!"

  One young boy shouldn't have made so much noise, but he

  was going to be tal like our dad, and his feet were already

  bigger than mine. Tyler thundered into the den with me at

  his heels. We found Jeremy sulenly thumbing the controls

  of the game hooked up to the big-screen TV in the corner.

  He didn't even glance up when Tyler bounded down the

  two steps to the sunken room and flew onto the couch to

  bounce his brother.

  "Get off, retard!" Jeremy shoved Tyler hard enough to rol

  him onto the floor.

  "Hey!" I shouted before either of them had the chance to

  get into it. "Shut up, both of you. Cut it out, or you can

  stay here and eat your mom's shitty pizza."

  Two pairs of wide eyes looked at me. I knew it was the

  language, but it had worked at getting their attention. I

  gestured at the TV.

  gestured at the TV.

  "Turn that off and get your shoes on. Let's go."

  "Jungle Java blows," Jeremy muttered as he pushed past

  me.

  I caught him by the elbow. He stopped, refusing to meet

  my eyes. He stood almost as tal as me, but he didn't pul

  away.

  "They have a whole new arcade section." Normaly his

  attitude would have tempted me to tel him to get over

  himself. Whatever was bugging Jeremy had spiled beyond

  his parents and was slopping onto me, but I thought of

  what I'd been like at twelve and gave him a break.

  He shrugged and wouldn't give me his face while his

  brother rocketed past us blabbing a mile a minute about

  what he was going to play and how his friend from school

  had spent his tickets on a realy cool neon light for his

  room, and…and…and…

  "Can it, shorty. Get in the car." I watched them both head out the front door, Tyler stil blabbing and Jeremy

  maintaining his unusual silence.

  Once we got to Jungle Java, I had to physicaly restrain

  Tyler from running across the parking lot. "Dude. Chil.

  There are cars here."

  He lunged like a racehorse trying to get out of the gate.

  "Hurry up, Paige! God!"

  "God," I mimicked him, but moved them both inside where I forked over twenty bucks in tokens for each of

  them and ordered a large pizza and soft drinks.

  "Wow, Paige. You're the best!" Tyler goggled at the

  tokens in the special plastic holder that clipped to his belt.

  Jeremy took his without comment, but held back until I'd

  let his brother loose in the arcade. "Thanks."

  Forty bucks wasn't anything for me to sneeze at, but I'd

  thought to them it would be chump change. Their gratitude

  surprised me. "You're welcome. Go have fun. I'l be right

  here."

  Jeremy nodded and stalked off toward the arcade. Jungle

  Java was reputedly adding a laser-tag section to the rear,

  but so far nothing had started. For a little place that had

  started off serving coffee and hosting an indoor playground

  for toddlers, it had realy grown. I'd taken the boys here a

  couple times when they were younger. It was hard to