Page 57 of The Sky in Summer
“This is Peter Piper.”
We all laugh. “Hi, Peter!”
“Did he pick a peck of pickled peppers?” I ask.
“No. He grew up to be the director of horror films. And he murdered his wife.”
Hmmm. Too obvious? Or right on target? I would bet we are all thinking the same thing. Teddy is good at this. Parish records the name and story.
“He looks like he could be in one!” Tyler says.
My turn. I take out the picture.
“Who the hell isthat?!!!”
“This is Brad Bradley.”
“Hi, Brad!”
“Poor kid. Who would name their child Brad Bradley?” My mother laughs.
“Well, you named your kids after chemical gasses and minerals,” Aargon says making us all laugh.
“What?” David says. “You did not.”
“I’m a chemist. It was an inspired idea!”
David and Tyler find that funny. Everyone has our entire lives.
“Okay, Vanadium, what does Brad Bradley do?” Scarlett says.
“Young Brad grew up in California and went on to start a religious cult that spanned the entire Western United States.”
I cannot hold back a laugh, although not for the reasons they think. Wish I had a picture of their faces. All doubting the truth.
“I’m up,” David says.
The photograph is pulled and held against him.
“Who the hell isthat?”
There is special emphasis onthat,because David’s picture is funny as shit. It is of a nerdy looking, bow-tie wearing teen. From maybe the nineties. He looks out of step with the times, but the clothes and hair identifies the decade.
“This is Oscar McDoogle.”
“Hi, Oscar!”
“Oscar is married to a famous actress twenty-seven years younger than him. A hot one.”
Oh. That was short and quick. He listened to my tips. I don’t know.
“My turn,” Layla says, removing the picture of a sexy looking waitress carrying a tray of food in a diner. It’s an old photo.
“Who the hell isthat?!!!
“This is Jesse Two Fingers.”
We bust out laughing and she joins us. “No. It really is!”
