“Happy birthday to me,” Taylor sang to himself. “Happy happy happy happy happy birthday to me.”
Isaac rolled his eyes. “Your birthday was yesterday.”
Taylor shrugged. “I like it when it’s my birthday.”
“Well, it isn’t your birthday just because you’re singing ‘happy birthday’ to yourself,” Isaac scoffed.
Taylor looked puzzled. “Why?”
“Because it isn’t!” Isaac exclaimed.
“That’s not a very good answer.” Taylor folded his arms across his chest. “Anyway, your birthday doesn’t end until you bring in the cupcakes.”
“What cupcakes?” Isaac asked.
“The cupcakes what I’m bringing to school.” Taylor spun around the living room, his arms outstreched. “Cupcakes, dutcakes. . .”
“If you do that too much, you’ll throw up,” Isaac cautioned. “Or crash into something. And then you’ll cry.”
“Will not cry.” Taylor flopped over backwards, grinning up at the ceiling. “The room is spinning around and around.”
“Good for you,” Isaac sighed, heading toward the kitchen.
He leaned against the doorframe, watching Nora measure out M&Ms and arrange them into happy faces on top of chocolate cupcakes. She smiled at him, wearily.
“This is what I do to gain a false sense of accomplishment.”
Isaac raised his eyebrows. “What?”
Nora shook her head. “Never mind. Want some M&Ms?”
He considered this for a moment. “Okay.”
Sitting on a stool next to the counter, sliding a handful of M&Ms back and forth in front of him, Isaac was quiet for awhile.
“Nora,” he asked, “why didn’t Taylor bring in cupcakes on his birthday?”
Nora grinned. “He told me I had to bring them in late, so his birthday would last longer.”
“Does your birthday really not end until you bring in cupcakes?”
Nora looked at Isaac. “What do you think?”
He bit his lip. “I don’t think that’s really true.”
Nora nodded. “You’re right.”
“I didn’t really believe that,” Isaac assured her. He rested his chin in his hand. “Nora, were you ever in a bomb shelter?”
Bemused, Nora shook her head. “No. Why?”
“I was just wondering.” Isaac blinked. “I was never in one either.”
Dan meandered through the kitchen, helping himself to a handful of M&Ms and staring morosely into the refrigerator. He opened a cabinet and peered inside. “How’re you doing in there?”
Nora and Isaac exchanged a glance. This was fairly normal Dan behavior.
“Would you like some M&Ms?” Dan asked. “Okay.” The M&Ms disappeared into the cabinet.
“Dan, I hope you take those out eventually,” Nora said. “I don’t want to move out of this house and leave it infested with bugs.”
“Eat all of those,” Dan said into the cabinet. “Don’t drop any on the floor. Bugs will come.”
“For God’s sake.” Nora rolled her eyes. “You’re thirty three years old and you have an invisible friend.”
“He’s not invisible,” Dan protested. “Are you invisible?” he whispered into the cabinet. “He says he’s not invisible,” Dan said aloud.
“I’m sure he says he isn’t,” Nora agreed.
“He’s not.” Dan assured her. “And he’s not claustrophobic, either.”
“How nice to know,” Nora turned to Isaac. “Should I put noses on these happy faces or just leave them with eyes and a mouth?”
“Would you put one M&M, or two, like nostrils?” Isaac asked.
“Hmm.” Nora thought about this. “Good point.”
“You’d like a drink?” Dan said into the cabinet. “You’d like some orange juice? Okay, I’ll get you some.” He peered back into the cupboard. “Not orange juice? Apple juice? All right.”
“Oh, lord,” Nora murmured. “Dan, do you have some unrequited need for attention or. . .”
“Here you go.” Dan poured a glass of apple juice and handed it into the cupboard.
“You don’t have the cat in there?” Nora asked.
Dan shuddered. “God, no.”
“I won’t even mention it anymore.” Nora rolled her eyes.
“You’re done?” Dan asked. “Okay. Let me take the cup for you.” He lifted the cup out of the cabinet and set it in the sink.
“This is ridiculous,” Nora told Isaac.
“Do you want to come out yet?” Dan asked. “No? Okay.”
Dan sidled out of the kitchen.
“That was kind of weird,” Nora said to Isaac.
“Kind of,” Isaac agreed.
Taylor slid through the kitchen door, tripped over a throw rug and caught himself before he hit the ground. A towel was pinned to his t-shirt like a Superman cape. “It’s a bird!” he sang to himself. “It’s a plane! It’s a speeding bullet! It’s more powerful than the locomotion!”
“Are you all right?” Nora asked Taylor.
He gave her a quizzical look.
“He’s more powerful than the locomotion,” Isaac reminded her.
Nora grinned, ruffling his hair. “Right.”
“Hi,” Taylor said into the cupboard. “I was just checking on you. Are you doing good?”
He paused for a moment. “Oh, that’s too bad. Really? Did you put a Band-Aid on it?”
“Did you cry?” Taylor wanted to know. “You did cry? Well, it must have hurt.”
“Are you talking to Dan’s friend, too?” Nora asked.
Taylor looked offended. “He’s not just Dan’s friend. “He’s mine, too.”
“Oh.” Nora nodded. “Does he talk?”
Taylor’s mouth dropped open. “He does talk. He talks everyday.”
“What does he say?” Nora asked.
“He says ‘hi Taylor,’” Taylor said. “And sometimes he says other stuff. Lots of other stuff.”
“That’s nice,” Nora said.
“It is?” Isaac asked.
“See?” Taylor asked the cabinet. “They think it’s nice.” He tilted his head to the side. “Do you want a crayon? You can have a crayon. Okay.” He pulled a crayon out of his pocket, then frowned. “I know you don’t like purple. But I don’t have a pink one.” He set his jaw. “I don’t have a pink one because you broke it!” There was a pause. “I know you didn’t break it on purpose, but. . .”
Taylor’s voice trailed off. “You did break it on purpose?” He stamped his foot. “That was the one I liked!”
“You’re a very strange kid,” Isaac told Taylor.
Taylor didn’t hear this. “You are so mean! I’m mad at you now.” His lower lip went out. “I’m not coming back to visit you any more. Don’t look at me like that!”
Taylor set his jaw. “You hurted my feelings. I don’t care if you’re sorry.” He sighed. “Okay. I guess you are sorry. Never never do it again. Ever ever.”
“Who does he think he is talking to?” Nora asked.
Isaac shrugged. “Nobody ever tells me anything.”
“So you’re not going to be over there talking to the cupboard?” Nora asked.
Isaac yawned. “Maybe I will.”
“Are you tired?”
He shook his head. “No.”
“Are you sure?” Nora smiled.
He yawned again. “Yep.”
“Well,” Taylor said, “Bye.” Aimlessly, he wandered out of the kitchen.
Isaac lifted his head off his arm. “I’ll be back in a few minutes.”
Nora nodded. “Okay.”
She worked in silence for a moment, counting out M&Ms for the last few cupcakes.
The cupboard door opened. Zac poked his head out. “Hi, Nora,” he said.
She jumped. “You were in there?”
“It’s my fort,” he explained, simply. “I’m going back in there now, okay?”
Nora nodded. “Okay.”