He winks at me. But his mama is shaking her head like it’s about to fly off. “No dairy products for you, Mama. If you want to start feeling better, forget about cheese, milk, and eggs altogether. I have a list of things for you to avoid. Anything else you can think of?”

“Why don’t you just tell me what I need?”

“Granny, I forgot,” Dingus says. “I can’t eat that cheese either. It gets stuck between my braces and it’s too hard to get out.”

“We’ll be right back,” Paris says, turning. “And, Lewis, I’m warning you. If you so much as mention Donnetta I’ll stop the car and you’ll walk back. Got it?”

He looks confused. “You’re the one who just brought her up. I wasn’t even thinking about that woman.”

“Just a minute,” she says, and reaches inside her purse, and sprinkles out a white pill into her palm.

“What’s that?” I ask.

“An Advil. I feel a headache coming on.”

“I ain’t never seen no white Advil,” I say. “What strength are they?”

“Strong,” she says. “Lewis, are you ready?”

“I’ve been ready. And just for the record, my mind is so far away from my ex-wife I can’t even begin to get you to understand.”

“Then don’t try,” Paris says, and I just slide my hand from my chest to cover my mouth so nobody will see me laughing.

I guess we all musta dozed off again during halftime, ’cause the next thing I know, Paris and Lewis is back and it seem like they just left. Dingus is laid out on the floor, his red arms spread out like wings of a hawk. He taking up most of my living space, so that his mama have to step over him in order to get to the kitchen, but first she gives him a little kick, and he looks up. “Would you help us get some things out of the car, and bring our bags in?”

“Sure, Mom. Where’s my granny?” he asks, looking around.

“Right here,” I say from behind him. He looks up at me, nods, and smiles.

“Where’s your bowling ball, Granny? I dreamed we were all bowling.”

“In there, under the bed, I guess. I can’t think about no bowling for at least another couple of weeks.”

He stops to watch a play. Shanice walks out the bedroom wiping sleep from her eyes. She still ain’t changed them shorts. She waves hi to Dingus. “Where’s my mom?” she asks me.

“On the phone with George, I guess. She’s been talking to somebody since we starting watching the game.”

Shanice rolls her eyes 360 degrees.

“Why you trippin’ so hard, Niecie?” Dingus asks, pushing the door open when he sees Paris coming to get him.

“I ain’t trippin’,” she says in a nasty voice.

“I believe you are. And you best to watch the direction of those eyes,” he says, and out he goes.

“Come sit over here next to your granny,” I say, motioning to her. She sits down at the end of the couch. I pat the cushion in between. “Come down here and sit close to me.”