"We'll figure it out," I told him. "And I won't ... I won't let myself get exposed to the chemicals in the air again. I promise."
"But, Dean, if you can't go outside, how are we going to find Mom and Dad? How will we go home?"
I could have lied. But Alex was smarter than me.
"I don't know," I said.
* * *
After I got him cleaned up we walked back together toward the others. He had forgiven me, but he was still kind of stiff with me. Wary, I guess. Or maybe he was just physically sore from the beating I had given him.
As we approached the Pizza Shack we heard: "I did too go to Emerald's!" from Max.
There was this big disconnect between what the big kids were dealing with and what the little kids were thinking about. For example, while I was patching up my brother after having tried to rip him apart due to a chemical compound–induced mania, Max, Batiste, Ulysses, and Chloe were discussing Emerald's, a strip club located near an off-ramp at the outskirts of town.
"He's lying. You never went to Emerald's. They don't let little kids in there," Chloe protested.
"They do if your uncle's the bouncer!" Max countered.
"What do they do in there, anyway?" Batiste wanted to know. "Our church is always trying to get those sinners to repent. But I don't even know what kind of sinning they're doing."
"Probably cursing," offered Chloe.
"Tons of that!" said Max.
"That's a sin." Batiste sighed.
"And drinking liquor?" Chloe asked.
"Totally," said Max. "They have these little glasses in all kinds of flavors like watermelon and peach passion and hot apple. But they taste horrible. Sweet and horrible. I had three of them one time and then I puked them all up, right on the bar, and my mom said if my uncle ever takes me there again, she's gonna call the cops."
"Drinking is a sin," said Batiste.
"Wow," Chloe murmured.
"I don't want to go back, anyways," Max continued. "Boring. Just a bunch of moms dancing around in their string underwear. Big whoop."
I stifled a laugh.
"What?" Chloe said. "What's so funny?"
"Oh ... Alex was just telling me a joke," I said.
"Tell us!" she demanded. "We love jokes."
Alex shrugged, lost. "I forget."
"Come on!" they pleaded.
"Okay, okay," I said. "How do you make a tissue dance?"
"How?" Max said.
"You put a little boogie in it!"
Nothing. Not even a groan.
"That's the worst joke I ever heard," said Chloe.
"I don't even get it," said Max.
Alex and I left the grade schoolers to discuss the finer points of adult entertainment and went over to where the big kids were gathering. We crossed past Josie, who was sort of slumped in a booth. Still not saying much. Well, anything.
"How are you, Josie?" I asked.
Alex nudged me toward the other big kids. He wanted to hear what they were thinking about the chemicals. I did, too ...
