Chapter 130

“Tommy, you’re pushing me too hard.”

“Stop being such a crybaby.”

There were happy memories, too, blessings to count. Shelby and I went to live with Gramma and Grampa when I was seven and she was eight.We liked to play Yahtzee under the kitchen table, while Gramma cooked pasta for baked mac and cheese.

“Time to get washed up, you two. Whoever can guess what shape the noodles are tonight gets a glass of Pepsi.”

“If we say the same answer, Shell,” little me said conspiratorially, “we both win.”

Gramma liked this game. She’d choose between elbows, shells, dinosaur shapes, even spaghetti sometimes.

“It’s ziti!”

“You’re always right, Maxi,” Gramma said with a smile, pouring half a glass of Pepsi for little me and half for little Shell as we sat at our full plates.