Turn 156 of 233

Tell the crew Kimo's first word was big and watch their reactions. They all laugh. Then pick him up and hold him while I am using the nail gun. Give it for him to use. He places the nail perfectly

The coffee break is ten minutes and the crew is gathered around the tailgate and the gathering is the gathering of men who drink coffee fast and the fast is the way they take their breaks. Lena is standing with Kimo on her hip and the boy is humming and the humming is the drone the crew knows now. The crew knows the boy crawls and the crew knows the boy is fast and the crew has heard the word but they don't know the word was the first word and the not knowing is the thing Lena is about to change.

"His first word was big," Lena says. The saying is simple and the simple is the way Lena says things now and the now is the way she has always said things on the site.

"Last Tuesday. Three months old. He looked at me and said it clear."

The silence is two seconds and the two seconds are the two seconds of six men processing the sentence and the processing is fast. Walt is the first to react and the reacting is not a laugh — Walt doesn't laugh — but the almost-smile cracks into something wider and the wider is the closest thing to a laugh the crew has seen from him and the seeing is the seeing of men who know that Walt almost-smiling is Walt laughing. Marco breaks first. The laugh is big and immediate and the immediate is the immediate of a man who has a niece the same age who doesn't crawl and doesn't talk and the contrast is the thing that makes the laugh bigger.

"Three months?" Daryl says. The question is the question of a man who is holding his coffee and the coffee is tilting because the tilting is the tilting of a body that is laughing and the laughing is shaking the coffee.

"Three months old and his first word is big?"

"Big," Tuki says. The word is the word and the word in Tuki's mouth is the word repeated and the repeating is the thing the crew does.

"The kid said big."

"At the lumber," Marco says. The adding is the adding of a man who heard the word at the lumber stack this morning and the hearing is the connection and the connection is the laugh.

"He said it at the lumber stack this morning. I heard him. I thought — I thought that was just a sound."

"That was the word," Lena says. "That was the word. He says it at big things. Lumber. Wall frames. The cooler."

"And at you," Walt says. The voice is quiet and the quiet is Walt's quiet and the quiet has a shape now and the shape is the almost-laugh that is not a laugh but is the closest Walt gets and the closest is the thing the crew knows.

"And at me," Lena says. The saying is the saying of a woman who is 630 pounds and the 630 is big and the big is the word and the word is right and the right is the thing that makes the laugh come again and the laugh comes again. The crew laughs and the laughing is the laughing of six men on a construction site laughing about a baby whose first word was big and the big is the word and the word is the structure and the structure holds.

Lena picks Kimo up after the break and the picking is the lifting of 31 pounds onto her left hip and the lifting is nothing and the nothing is the weight of a boy who is 31 pounds and the 31 is the weight she presses in her sleep. She walks to the interior wall frame and the walking is the walking she knows — the hip set, the belly swaying, the feet flat on concrete. Marco is at the nail gun station and the station is the station they share and the sharing is the rhythm they have built. She picks up the nail gun and the picking is the picking of a tool she knows and the knowing is in her hand.

Kimo is on her hip and the boy is watching the gun and the watching is the watching of a child who has been watching his mother work for three months and the watching has been building and the building is the thing. Lena positions a stud against the plate and the positioning is the positioning she has done a thousand times and the thousand is the number of nails she has driven. She fires the gun and the firing is the bark and the bark is the sound Kimo knows and the knowing is in his humming and the humming goes louder.

She shifts the boy to her front and the shifting is the shifting of a mother who is about to do something and the something is the thing she has been thinking about since the boy started crawling. She puts the nail gun in his hands. The hands are small and the small is the small of a three-month-old and the gun is heavy and the heavy is the weight of a tool that is bigger than his arms. But the hands close on the grip and the closing is the closing of a boy who has been watching and the watching is in his hands.

Lena guides the muzzle to the stud and the guiding is the guiding of a mother who is holding the gun steady and the steady is the thing she does and the thing she is giving him. She positions the nail and the positioning is hers and the trigger is his. She puts his finger on the trigger and the finger is small and the small is the small of a finger that has been crawling and the crawling has made the finger strong.

"Push," Lena says. The word is the word and the word is the instruction and the instruction is one word because one word is enough.

Kimo pushes. The trigger gives and the gun barks and the nail drives and the driving is the driving of a nail into a stud and the nail is in and the in is the thing. Lena looks at the nail and the looking is the looking of a woman who has been driving nails for a year and the nail is flush. The nail is perfectly flush. The head sits against the wood and the sitting is the sitting of a nail that was driven by a three-month-old boy and the driving was clean and the clean is the thing that makes Lena's breath stop.

Marco looks over and the looking is the looking of a man who saw the boy pull the trigger and the seeing is the seeing of the nail and the nail is flush.

"The kid's a framer," Marco says. The saying is the saying of a man who is not joking and the not joking is the thing that makes it true.