Free The Flying Troutmans by Miriam Toews Page B

time. We had a good run.
    Yeah, I said. No bigger blast on earth.
    We really did, he said.
    Yeah. Neither one of us said anything for a while. Well, I said finally, I have to go back to the room.
    What room? he said.
    My motel room. I have to check on the kids.
    What kids? he asked.
    See you later, I whispered. Namaste.
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    Thebes wouldn’t let me back in the room. She thought it was hilarious. Please, please open the door, I said. I started to cry all over again.
    I saw her eye through the peephole. Then the door whipped open and she said, Holy Moly, I’m just kidding around, Hattie, what’s wrong?
    There’s no mini-bar in here, is there? I said, and thenflung myself onto the bed and wept like Jesus and was sweetly consoled by my sister’s children there in that shit-ass motel room in the middle of nowhere.
    I told them how pathetic I’d been, calling France just to hear a recorded voice and then being dumped all over again. Thebes wiped my forehead with a cool washcloth, something she said Min did for her when she was feeling sick, at least she used to, and told me a joke. How much does a polar bear weigh?
    I don’t know, I said.
    Enough to break the ice, hi, my name’s Thebes, can I buy you a drink?
    Logan said, That’s not a joke, that’s a lame pickup line. Then he said, Relationships, man…life is easy compared to relationships. Wanna smoke a joint?
    Ater-lay, I told him.
    Hey, said Thebes, I’m the one who invented Pig Latin. She pointed her finger at Logan. And don’t forget, little man, you need pot to spell impotent . She stared hard at him and he told her to shut up, but he was laughing. I told Logan it was really stupid to bring pot, not to mention knives, across the border and he said he hadn’t brought pot across the border, he’d got it from the girl in the pool. I didn’t know when that had happened. Kids are sneaky.
    Thebes sang “Happiness Is a Warm Gun.” And then we all fell asleep together in the saggy stained bed while reruns of Laverne and Shirley and The Odd Couple droned on all night long and rats raided our cooler during breaks from relay-racing in the walls. I decided we’d look for partial rather than total dives from now on.

 
    six
    I WOKE UP BEFORE THE KIDS and noticed that Thebes had left a small silver notebook by the bed. Logan had covered himself up completely with his blanket. I couldn’t see him but I could hear him snoring softly, humming, like a little airplane lost in the clouds. I picked up Thebes’s notebook.

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    Road trip. First day. We are in America. I’ve been profiled at the border as a retard, by Logan. They still let me in. Hattie is sad about her boyfriend in Paris. He doesn’t like her any more. Logan told her Internet dating was making a comeback and I told her to try to meet a whale, they mate for life. Ha ha. Logan hit me in the face with the Frisbee. The good thing is we’re all saved. I miss you. I love you. I won’t forget the important things.

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    I went to the lobby again and phoned the hospital and asked to speak to Min. The nurse said that wouldn’t be possible right then…could they give her a message? Why isn’t it possible? I asked.
    Are you family? she said.
    Yeah, I’m her sister, I said. The woman didn’t think she had the authority to talk about Min’s situation right then, but I could leave my number and she would get the doctor to call me back later in the day after rounds.
    Well, I said, I’m not…I don’t have a number. I’m at a pay phone.
    Well, said the woman, will you be able to be reached later on in the day?
    Well, I said, no. Is there a good time to call back? Then she told me that she believed the patient was having some difficulty speaking. That she was not quite ready to participate in normal daily routines. Yeah, I could understand that.
    Hey, I said, my sister is alive, right? I immediately