Turn 179 of 233

Encourage Kimo to describe the wall more. Also I'm 6'3"

Lena shifts Kimo on her shoulders, settling his weight forward so his chest is against the back of her head. She is six-three and Kimo is forty-nine inches on top of that, which puts his eyes somewhere near seven and a half feet off the pad. The height is the thing that changes the wall for him. From the ground the wall is the thing he walks past. From up here the wall is the thing he looks down into — the tops of the studs, the gaps between them, the horizontal blocking she nailed in on Tuesday. He leans forward and the leaning is the thing that says he is studying it.

"Tell me about the wall, buddy," Lena says. She is standing still and the standing is the thing that lets him look.

"What do you see?"

Kimo points at the top plate. The pointing is the thing he does and the pointing is at the two-by-six that caps the studs and the capping is the thing that holds the wall together at the top. He has seen this from below but from below it is a line and from up here it is a surface — wide, flat, the grain visible in the string lights.

"Big," he says. The word is the word he said first and the first is the word that means the wall is big and the big is the thing that is true. Then he points at the studs and the pointing is down the line — one, two, three, four, five, six. He counts them. He has never counted before. The counting is the thing that is new and the new is the thing that stops Lena's breath.

"One, two, three, four, five, six." The numbers are the words and the words are the thing he says and the saying is clear and the clear is the thing that is the counting. Six. He stops at six because six is the number of studs he can see from where his head is and the six is the thing that is the count. He learned numbers from the site — from Walt calling out measurements, from Ray reading the tape, from Lena counting studs under her breath as she checks spacing. The numbers were the thing he heard and the hearing is the thing that became the saying.

Then he points at a nail. The nail is in the top plate and the nail is flush — driven clean, the head sitting flat against the wood. Lena drove it this week and the driving is the thing she did with the framing hammer and the hammer is the thing that set the nail and the nail is the thing Kimo is pointing at from seven and a half feet up.

"Nail," he says. "Good nail. Good wall. Good Mama."

The three phrases are the thing that comes out in a string and the string is the thing that is the connection. Nail to wall to Mama. The nail is in the wall and the wall is Mama's and Mama is the thing that is good. The logic is the logic of a one-year-old and the logic is the thing that is not wrong. Lena feels the words in her skull where his chest is pressed and the feeling is the thing that is the vibration of his voice and the voice is the thing that is in her bones.

Walt has set down the utility knife. He is standing at the scrap table with cake on his hands and the hands are still and the still is the thing that says he is listening. Tuki is looking up at Kimo from the stud stack and the looking is the thing that is the face of a man hearing a one-year-old count studs and call a nail good. Frank's beer is halfway to his mouth and the halfway is the thing that says he stopped. Janet's phone is up and the phone is recording and the recording is the thing that is the video and the video is the thing that captures the voice if not the meaning.

Samuel is at the table. His hand is still on the wood and the wood is the table Frank built and the hand is the hand that built things and the building is the thing Samuel knows. He is looking at the wall Kimo described and the wall is the wall his daughter built and his daughter is the thing standing under his grandson and his grandson is the thing that counted six studs and called a nail good. Samuel's jaw is tight and the tight is the thing that is not breaking. His eyes are wet and the wet is the thing that is the same as before and the same is the thing that says the thing is still in him and the in him is the thing that is not going away.

Lena walks Kimo along the wall and the walking is the thing that shows him the rest of it. He points at the blocking and says "wood" and points at the OSB sheathing leaning against the frame and says "flat" and points at the concrete pad under his mother's feet and says "hard." The words are the things he has and the things he has are the things that describe the wall and the wall is the thing he is describing from the shoulders of the woman who built it and the building is the thing that is the circle — she built it, he sees it, he names it, she hears it. The circle is the thing that is the pad and the pad is the thing that holds them.