Turn 165 of 233

Call Janet and tell her Kimo said 'won' and take Kimo to the site and let him walk for the crew. Also ask Sina if she wants to see Kimo walk at the site

The parking lot is warming and the warming is the thing that happens when the sun gets higher and the higher is the thing that tells Lena the morning is moving. Sina is stretching against the trailhead railing and the stretching is the thing she does after thirty-four miles and the thirty-four is the distance they both ran. Lena is holding Kimo against her chest and the chest is tattooed and the tattooed is the skin he knows. She pulls her phone from the stroller pouch and dials Janet.

"Mom. He said another word." Janet's breathing changes on the line and the change is the thing Lena can hear through the phone — the sharp intake of a grandmother who has been getting a call every time the boy does something that doesn't fit on any chart.

"What word, Lena."

"Won. He said won. After the run. I beat Sina for the first time and he was in the stroller and he looked at me and said won."

The silence is Janet's silence and the silence is the kind that has a weight to it — the weight of a woman who heard big and down and go and cold and is now hearing won and the hearing is accumulating into something she doesn't have a category for. Janet has been building a list on her phone and the list is the list of words and the list is growing and the growing is the thing she tracks because tracking is the thing Janet does when the world gives her something she can't otherwise hold.

"That's eight words, Lena. Eight words at four months."

"Eight words. All accurate. All directed. He said won because I won."

Janet makes a sound and the sound is the sound that is not a laugh and not a cry and the not-laugh-not-cry is the thing Janet does now when the thing that is happening is too big for either one alone.

"Does Samuel know?"

"Not yet. I'm heading to the site after this. Kimo's going to walk for the crew."

"He's walking for the crew?"

"He walked fifteen steps on the balcony last night. He walked twelve for you and Dad yesterday. I'm taking him to the pad this morning."

Janet is quiet for a beat and the beat is the beat of a woman who is deciding whether to ask to come and the deciding is short because Janet has already decided.

"We'll come."

"You don't have to — "

"We'll come, Lena. We'll be there by seven."

Lena hangs up and turns to Sina. Sina is standing at the railing and the standing is the standing of a woman who ran thirty-four miles barefoot and naked and is still catching her breath and the catching is the thing her body is doing while her eyes are on the boy. Lena shifts Kimo to her hip and the shifting is the thing she does with one arm and the one arm is the arm that presses 535 pounds.

"You want to come to the site? He's going to walk for the crew. Fifteen steps, maybe more."

Sina looks at her and the looking is the looking of a woman who just heard a four-month-old say won and is now being asked to watch the same four-month-old walk. The looking lasts two seconds and the two seconds are the two seconds of a woman who has three children and has never seen a four-month-old do any of the things this boy does and the never is the thing she carries. She pushes off the railing and the pushing is the decision.

"I'll follow you."

The drive is fifteen minutes and the fifteen minutes is the thing between the trailhead and the site and the site is the site that has Lena's name on the sign. Lena pulls in at six-twenty and the pulling in is the thing she does before the crew arrives and the before is the prep. She sweeps the pad and the sweeping is the thing she does every morning and the morning is the thing that starts with the broom. Kimo is in the harness on her chest and the harness is the thing that keeps him against her while she works and the working is the sweeping. Sina pulls in behind her and the behind is the thing that says she followed and the following is the thing she said she would do.

The crew arrives at six-forty and the arriving is the arriving of men who see two things they don't expect. The first is Sina — a naked woman standing by the trailer, broad and brown and sweating, her feet callused and dark from three months of barefoot running. The second is Kimo on Lena's chest and the Kimo is the thing they expect but the expecting is always different from the seeing. Walt is first through the gate and Walt looks at Sina and the looking is the looking of a man who has worked with Lena for over a year and has seen Lena naked every day and is now seeing another naked woman on the site and the seeing is the thing he processes in two seconds and the two seconds is enough.

"Who's this?"

"Sina. She runs with me. Thirty-four miles this morning."

Walt nods and the nod is the nod of a man who has stopped being surprised by the things that happen on this site. Marco is through the gate next and Marco sees Sina and the seeing is the same seeing and the same is the processing and the processing is two seconds. Frank is at the saw station and Daryl is staging lumber and Ray is on the plans and the crew is the crew and the crew absorbs Sina the way the crew absorbs everything — without comment, without judgment, without the thing that would make it a thing.

Lena sets Kimo on the pad at seven and the setting is the setting she has done before — bare feet on concrete, the boy standing, the standing his. The crew is watching and the watching is the thing they do when the boy is on the pad because the boy on the pad is the thing that stops the work and the stopping is the thing they allow. Janet and Samuel pull in at seven-oh-three and the pulling in is early and the early is the thing Janet does when she doesn't want to miss anything.

Lena crouches fifteen feet from the lumber stack and the crouching is the crouching she knows.

"Come on, buddy. Walk to Mama."

Kimo lets go of the lumber stack and the letting go is the thing. One step. Two. Three. The rhythm is steadier than yesterday and the steadier is the thing that comes with days and the days are accumulating. Four. Five. Six. Seven. Eight. Nine. Ten. The crew is watching and the watching is the watching of men who have seen this boy crawl and pull up and now walk and the walking is the thing they are seeing. Eleven. Twelve. The twelfth step reaches Lena's knees and the reaching is the arrival. She catches him and picks him up and the picking is 44 pounds and the 44 is nothing.

"Twelve steps," Marco says. The saying is the saying of a man who is counting and the counting is the thing the crew does because the crew counts things — studs, nails, steps.

"Fifteen last night on the balcony," Lena says. "He's getting steadier."

Sina is standing at the edge of the pad and Sina is watching and the watching is the watching of a woman who has a son who walked at thirteen months and is watching a four-month-old walk twelve steps on a construction pad and the watching is the thing she is holding. Her arms are crossed under her bare chest and the crossing is the thing she does when she is holding something and the holding is not discomfort. The holding is the thing Sina does when the world gives her something she can't otherwise carry.

"He said won this morning," Lena says to the crew. "After the run. I beat Sina for the first time and he was in the stroller and he looked at me and said won."

"Won," Walt says. The repetition is the repetition of a man who is tasting the word and the tasting is the thing he does with words the way he does with lumber — checking it for truth.

"Kid knows what winning is."

"Kid knows what winning is," Marco says. The echo is the echo of a crew that has absorbed a boy into its language and the language is the thing they share.

Kimo is on Lena's hip and the hip is the place he sits and the sitting is the thing he does while the world moves around him. He looks at Walt and the looking is the looking of a boy who is seeing a man he has seen every day and the seeing is the thing that comes before the word. The mouth doesn't open. The not opening is the thing that says the word is not ready yet and the not ready is the thing that is fine. He hums and the humming is the drone and the drone is the thing between words and the between is the place where the next word is building.

Samuel is at the edge of the pad and Samuel is watching and the watching is the watching of a man who said he's going to run and is now watching the boy walk and the walking is the thing that is before the running and the before is the place Samuel is standing in. Janet is beside him and the phone is in her hand and the phone is recording because recording is the thing Janet does. Sina is beside them and Sina is the newest and the newest is the thing that is fitting in and the fitting in is the thing that happens on this site because this site is the place where things fit.