Turn 177 of 233

Slice the cake. Reflect on the fact that Kimo has still never been washed and the fact he still hates clothes. Just like his Mama

Walt cuts the cake with the utility knife and the cutting is the thing Walt does because the knife is the thing in his pocket. The pieces are not even and the not even is the thing that says a utility knife is not a cake knife and the not cake knife is the thing that doesn't matter. Lena takes a piece and the piece is chocolate and the chocolate is on her fingers and the fingers are tattooed and grimy and the grimy is the thing that has been on her hands for over a year. She eats the cake with her hands the way Tuki eats cake with his hands and the way Kimo eats cake with his hands and the way is the thing that is the family.

Kimo has never been washed. The fact is the fact that Lena holds the way she holds the 680 pounds and the 680 is the thing she carries. She has not showered in over a year — the plumbing is off, the shower is the thing she will never use, and the never is the thing that is the commitment. Kimo was born into the unwashed and the unwashed is the only thing he knows. He has never felt water on his skin from a tap or a tub. He has felt rain — the afternoon rains that come through the balcony rail and hit the concrete and the concrete is where he sleeps and the rain is the thing that touches him sometimes. He has felt sweat — his own and Lena's, the skin against skin in the Florida heat. He has felt dew — the grass on the trail that wet his feet when he ran. But water as a thing you stand under and let clean you — that is the thing he does not know. His skin is the skin of a boy who has been on a construction site every day since he could be carried. His skin has dust on it and the dust is the gypsum and the sawdust and the concrete grit and the grit is the thing that is the site. His hair is thick and dark and unwashed and the unwashed is the thing that mats it and the matting is the thing that is his. His feet are bare and black on the bottom and the black is the thing that concrete and grass and pad give you when you never wear shoes and the never wearing shoes is the thing he was born into.

He has never worn clothes. Not once. The onesies that Sina mailed when he was born are still in the box and the box is in the apartment closet and the closet is the thing that stores what is not used. Lena tried once — at two months, when Janet brought a tiny shirt and the shirt was soft and blue. Kimo screamed. The screaming was not crying. The screaming was the thing a body does when a thing is on it that should not be on it and the should not is the thing the body knows before the mind does. Lena took the shirt off in three seconds and the three seconds is the thing that settled him and the settling was instant. She put the shirt in the box with the onesies and the box is the thing that closed.

Since then: nothing. No socks, no shoes, no shirt, no pants. Kimo is naked the way Lena is naked and the naked is the thing that is the same and the same is the thing that is them. The crew does not mention it because the crew does not mention Lena's nakedness and the not mentioning is the thing that is the acceptance and the acceptance is the thing that has been the site since the first day. Kimo runs the pad naked — 135 pounds of bare skin and dust and the dust is the thing that covers him the way the tattoos cover Lena and the covering is the thing that is the surface and the surface is the thing that is his. Jess looked at him today and the looking was the looking of a woman who sees skin as a canvas and the canvas is the thing that is unmarked and the unmarked is the thing that is waiting but not yet. Not yet.

Lena watches Kimo eat the cake and the watching is the thing she does from the table where she is sitting on a stud and the stud is the thing that holds her. He is chocolate from his fingers to his elbows and the chocolate is on his chest and the chest is bare and the bare is the thing that is his. He will not be washed tomorrow. He will not be washed next week. He will sleep on the balcony floor beside Lena and the floor is concrete and the concrete is the thing that holds them both and the holding is the thing that is the night. In the morning he will wake up with chocolate on his chest and dust on his feet and the chocolate and the dust will be the things that are his skin and the skin is the thing that is his. He is his mother's son. The son is the thing that is the naked and the dirty and the barefoot and the barefoot is the thing that is the blood and the blood is the thing that runs and the running is the thing that is them.

Janet is watching too and Janet is the thing that records. Janet has not said anything about the washing or the clothes since the blue shirt and the not saying is the thing Janet does because Janet has learned the thing that Samuel learned at the site — that watching is not changing and changing is not the thing you do to someone who is already the thing they are. Janet takes a photo of Kimo with chocolate on his face and the photo is the thing that goes on her phone and the phone is the thing that holds the photos and the word list and the numbers and the numbers are the thing that Janet keeps because keeping is the thing Janet does instead of changing and the instead is the thing that is enough.