linda (at her mother's vietnamese 'staurant, a solstice)
----------------------------------------------------------
do you want
to be
immortal? -- *yes!* me too.
(you know -- how kid's eyes sparkle)
(the mouth half-yawns stretches a diamond latex glove)
(well! i *am* only ten!!!) (it is past eleven.)
(when you are done (how do you pronounce this?)
(and this? (and -- this?))
do you want -- or did linda say -- would you like
to help me check my homework?
i'd love to. i'd love to.
we already have enough lawyers. suppose we want you
to be someone else than a lawyer.
i want to be a lawyer -- abraham lincoln
was a lawyer.
why don't you be an ambassador? or an astronaut or a cook?
ambassadors get assassinated. so do lawyers and
that's only on teevee. you won't get assassinated
by the time you are an ambassador. (*silent no thanks.*)
do you want to help rich or poor people? (*smile*)
it's important. (you know, half-yawn. stretch. it is
past eleven.
i wanna go to whitney-young.
why can't you? *incomprehending stare*.
what's stopping you? (you know, how a kid's eyes sparkle.)
i am not in 6th grade yet. (replay, later, in my head:
oh, you're locked up. we have much in common.)
please don't get bored. you'll lose your smarts if you
get bored. i'm not gonna (you know, how a kid's eyes
sparkle.
you wanted to do math. i already did math by myself.
we'll do other stuff next time. *silent ok.* don't forget
to put it in your fridge -- thank you -- so you can eat it
