Turn 184 of 233

Ask Samuel how he's been. Eventually Janet comes to the call. Kimo calls her "granma"

Lena sits on the stud stack outside the framed walls of the third house. The crew is inside finishing the blocking and the blocking is the thing she can hear through the studs — the hammer strikes, the shouts, the sound of work that is hers but is not hers right now because right now is the phone and the phone is Samuel. Kimo is on her lap, 150 pounds of boy against 730 pounds of mother, his back against her belly, his feet on the concrete. He is eating a banana and the banana is the thing he eats the way Lena eats — fast, aggressive, the peel gone in four bites and the four bites leaving residue on his chin and the chin is the thing that does not get wiped.

"How are you, Dad?" Lena says. The question is the thing she has not asked directly and the directly is the thing that is new because before the directly was the thing she avoided and the avoided was the thing that was the distance. Samuel is quiet for a moment and the moment is the thing that is the considering and the considering is the thing Samuel does before he answers a question that is not about walls or numbers.

"I'm working," Samuel says. "The shop is busy. Janet says I should slow down. I don't slow down."

The saying is the thing that is Samuel — the stating, the flat, the thing that is the fact without the feeling. But the fact is the thing that has the feeling in it and the feeling is the thing that is the working and the working is the thing Samuel does instead of the slowing down and the slowing down is the thing Janet wants and Janet is the thing that is the wife and the wife is the thing that knows. Lena hears the working and the working is the thing she recognizes because she works the same way — the body doing the thing the body needs to do and the needing is the thing that is the not stopping.

"I think about the site," Samuel says. The saying is the thing that is the offering and the offering is the thing Samuel does not usually give.

"When you sent the photo. The one of you on the second story. I kept looking at it. Your mother doesn't know I saved it."

Lena's chest tightens and the tightening is the thing that is not the weight and not the fat and not the muscle. The tightening is the thing that is the father who saved a photo of his daughter leaning on a hammer in a frame she built and the frame is the thing that is the skeleton of a room and the room is the thing someone will live in and the living is the thing Samuel sees when he looks at the photo. She does not say anything for a moment and the moment is the thing that is the holding.

"I look like Grandpa," Lena says. The saying is the thing she has heard Samuel say once before and the once is the thing she is giving back to him.

"You told me that. At the site."

"You do," Samuel says. "The way you stand. The way you lean on the hammer. He leaned on things he built. He didn't stand straight when there was something to lean on. He said a man who built something should lean on it."

Kimo finishes the banana and the finishing is the thing that drops the peel on the pad and the peel is the thing that stays. He burps — a deep, round belch that comes from the belly that ate the banana and the belly is the thing that is 150 pounds and the 150 is the thing that produces the sound. Lena pats his back and the pat is the thing that is the acknowledgment and the acknowledgment is the thing that is the same as hers — no embarrassment, no apology, the sound is the body and the body is the thing that is his.

"Samuel burp," Kimo says. The saying is the thing that is the linking and the linking is the thing he does — connecting the sound to the phone and the phone to Samuel because Samuel is the voice and the voice is the thing that is on the phone and the phone is the thing that burps. The logic is the logic of a thirteen-month-old and the logic is not wrong.

Samuel laughs again. The again is the thing that is the second time today and the second time is the thing that is more than Samuel has laughed in months.

"He thinks I burped?"

"He thinks the phone burped. Close enough."

There is a sound on Samuel's end — a door, footsteps, the thing that is Janet coming into the room and the room is the thing that is the kitchen and the kitchen is the thing where Janet is. Samuel says something away from the phone and the something is the thing that is muffled and the muffled is the thing that is Janet's name and Janet's name is the thing that brings her to the phone.

"Is that Lena?" Janet's voice comes on and the coming on is the thing that is the line picking up and the line is the thing that is now three people — father, mother, daughter — and the daughter is the thing that has a grandson on her lap and the grandson is the thing that is the reason.

"It's me, Mom. Dad and I have been talking. Kimo's here."

"Put me on speaker," Janet says. The saying is the thing that is the Janet and the Janet is the thing that is the command and the command is the thing that is the love. Lena puts the phone on speaker and the speaker is the thing that fills the air and the air is the thing between the phone and Kimo's ears.

"Kimo," Janet says. "It's Granma. Can you say Granma?"

Kimo's head turns toward the phone. The turning is the thing that is the recognition and the recognition is the thing that is the voice and the voice is the thing Janet has on every call — warm, direct, the thing that says the name and waits. Kimo's mouth works. The working is the thing that is the lips and the tongue and the tongue is the thing that finds the shapes. Granma. The g is the thing he knows from Gampa. The r is still the thing that is hard. The an is the thing that is round. The ma is the thing that is the end and the end is the thing that is the word.

"Ganma," Kimo says. The word is the thing that is the name and the name is the thing that drops the r again but the g is solid and the ma is clear and the clear is the thing that is the Janet. Ganma. The word lands on the phone and the phone is the thing that carries it to Janet and Janet is the thing that is quiet for two seconds and the two seconds is the thing that is the holding and the holding is the thing that is the not crying and the not crying is the thing that is the almost.

"Say it again," Janet says. The saying is the same saying Samuel made and the same is the thing that is the parents and the parents are the thing that want the name and the name is the thing that is the word and the word is the thing that is theirs.

"Ganma," Kimo says. "Ganma big too."

The too is the thing that is the same as Gampa big and the same is the thing that is the category and the category is the thing that is big and big is the thing Kimo says about the things that matter. Ganma is big too. Gampa is big. Mama is big. The category is the thing that is the family and the family is the thing that is the big. Janet laughs and the laugh is the thing that is wet and the wet is the thing that is the joy and the joy is the thing that is the sound and the sound is the thing that is on the phone and the phone is the thing that is the three of them and the three is the thing that is the four with Kimo and the four is the thing that is the family on the phone in the air above the pad.