The Complicated Calculus (and Cows) of Carl Paulsen by Gary Eldon Peter

Author:Gary Eldon Peter
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Regal House Publishing
Published: 2022-12-15T00:00:00+00:00

9

More Than a Feeling

“Geometry, Spanish, history,” Andy snorts. “Who needs this shit?” He spins his ¡En español! textbook like a Frisbee across the room until it hits the wall with a thud.

You do, if you ever want to make it out of the tenth grade. But of course I just nod, agreeing with everything Andy says. It’s become a bad habit, like smoking or an unhealthy food you can’t give up. But I can’t help myself. Because if it makes Andy smile, a smile that says Yes, it’s you and me, we’re in something together, then it’s worth it.

It’s Sunday afternoon, with only two weeks to go until Thanksgiving recess, and I’ve gotten permission to spend it with Andy so we can study our Spanish together. Except for school, Andy’s been grounded for the last month because of his bad midterm grades.

Even though the whole point was to study together, and therefore do better in school, my father wasn’t crazy about me spending any more time with Andy than I already was. “I think it might be a good idea for you to expand your friendship circle a little bit,” he said one cold morning when we were out doing chores, not long after Andy’s last visit at our place to work on geometry. “Aren’t there other guys you might want to do things with?”

Don’t get worked up, I thought as I kept my head down and shoveled more feed for the cows. Play it cool.

“It’s just not…healthy to spend all your time with one friend. Why not broaden your horizons a bit?”

“Okay,” I said, trying to sound noncommittal. I wasn’t about to give up Andy. And just as I’d hoped, after some additional bullshitting about how tutoring would be good for me too, since by having to explain it to someone else I’d do better, my father didn’t bring it up again. That was a little risky, since he’d been a teacher himself before we started farming and he could have easily seen that I had no clue what I was talking about. But then again maybe he knew it was a lost cause.

“What are you doing for Thanksgiving?” I ask Andy now. Given Andy’s short attention span, I’ve learned that it works best to ease slowly into tutoring: a little bit of small talk first, then on to “Basic Conversations.”

Andy shrugs. “The usual shit. We’ll eat a lot, and then I’ll goof around with my cousins. Last year my uncle let me have a couple beers. He poured it into an empty pop can and so my dad didn’t even know.”

“What happened after that?”

“I got tired, and then I had to pee really bad,” Andy says. “That was about it. You need to have a lot before you feel anything. My uncle and dad usually have to drink a whole twelve pack before anything happens to them.”

“So what do they do after that?”

“Not much. Act stupid, mostly, and be loud. The more they drink, the louder they get.

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