Turn 180 of 233

Aleki Jr. teaches Kimo how to catch

Aleki Junior has been running the pad barefoot since they arrived and the running is the thing a seven-year-old does when a pad is concrete and the concrete is the thing you run on. He is barefoot and shirtless and the barefoot and shirtless is the thing that is his father's son and the father's son is the thing that runs. He has been watching Kimo on Lena's shoulders and the watching is the thing a seven-year-old does when a one-year-old is up high and the high is the thing that is interesting. Now Lena has set Kimo down on the pad and the setting down is the thing that puts him at Aleki Junior's level and the level is the thing that is close to the ground.

Aleki Junior picks up a piece of scrap lumber — a cutoff, smooth, round at the edges from being kicked around the site. He holds it up and shows it to Kimo the way a seven-year-old shows a thing, which is to hold it out and say the name of the thing.

"Ball," Aleki Junior says. The cutoff is not a ball. The calling it a ball is the thing that a seven-year-old does because the thing you throw and catch is a ball and the cutoff is the thing you have.

Kimo looks at the cutoff. He looks at Aleki Junior.

"Ball," he says. The saying is the repeat and the repeat is the thing Kimo does when he learns a word and the learning is the thing that is the echo.

Aleki Junior backs up three steps and the three steps are the thing that puts distance between them. He tosses the cutoff underhand and the underhand is the thing a seven-year-old does when he is throwing to someone smaller. The cutoff arcs through the string lights and the arcing is the thing that is the path and the path is the thing that ends at Kimo's hands. Kimo puts his hands up and the putting up is the thing he does and the doing is the instinct and the instinct is the thing that says the body knows before the mind. The cutoff hits his palms and bounces and the bouncing is the thing that says he did not catch it.

The cutoff rolls on the pad and Kimo looks at his hands. The looking is the thing that says the thing was there and then it wasn't and the wasn't is the thing that is the problem. Aleki Junior picks up the cutoff and walks it back to Kimo and the walking it back is the thing a seven-year-old does when the throw didn't work.

"You gotta close your hands," Aleki Junior says. He demonstrates — palms out, fingers open, then the closing.

"Like this. When it touches you, close."

Kimo watches the hands. The watching is the thing he does and the watching is the studying and the studying is the thing he did with the wall from Lena's shoulders. He is reading the hands the way he read the studs — one thing at a time, the parts before the whole. Aleki Junior tosses again and the again is the thing that is the second try. The cutoff arcs and Kimo puts his hands up and the putting up is the same and the cutoff hits his palms and this time he closes. The closing is late and the late is the thing that lets the cutoff slip but the slip is slower and the slower is the thing that is the progress.

"Close!" Aleki Junior says. "Close your hands!"

The third toss. Kimo puts his hands up. The cutoff comes and the coming is the arc and the arc is the thing his eyes track and the tracking is the thing that has been his since five months — the eyes following the thing that moves. The cutoff hits his palms and he closes and the closing is the thing that holds. The cutoff is in his hands. He is holding it. The holding is the thing that is the catch and the catch is the thing that is the first catch.

Kimo looks at the cutoff in his hands. He looks at Aleki Junior. His face does the thing that is not a smile because Kimo does not smile the way other kids smile. His face does the thing that is the opening — the eyes wide, the mouth open, the whole face saying the thing that a smile says without the muscles of a smile.

"Good!" Kimo says. The word is the word he says when a wall is plumb and a nail is flush and a cake is chocolate. He says it now about a catch and the catch is the thing that is good.

"Yeah!" Aleki Junior says. "Again!"

They do it again and the again is the thing that is the fourth toss and the fifth and the sixth. Kimo catches three of six and the three is the thing that is half and the half is the thing that is the beginning. Aleki Junior is patient and the patience is the thing a seven-year-old has when he is teaching and the teaching is the thing that makes the patience. Sina is watching from the studs and her hand is on Tomasi's arm and the hand is the thing that tightens when Aleki Junior bends down to pick up the cutoff and the bending is the thing that is gentle. She is thinking about Aleki and Aleki is the thing that is the name and the name is the boy who is teaching and the boy who died and the boy who died is the thing that would have taught this boy and the teaching is the thing that goes on.

Lena watches from the stud she is sitting on. She is eating cake with her hands and the cake is chocolate and the chocolate is on her fingers and the fingers are the thing that holds the cake. She watches Aleki Junior toss and Kimo catch and the catching is the thing that is the learning and the learning is the thing that is the pad. Two boys on concrete, one seven and one one, barefoot and dirty, playing catch with a piece of scrap lumber they call a ball.