I shrugged and went back to digging the peas out of my pot pie. I like to take them out and eat them on their own so I can really enjoy them. The pea is an underestimated legume. As soon as I had that thought, I thought of how you’re always talking about underestimated things. I, for one, appreciate it. I also appreciate how we both have excellent vocabularies for our age and both want to be writers. Nobody else here seems to care about stuff like that.

After that, I saw that Kate was taking all of the pumpkin seeds and sunflower seeds out of her salad and forking them into her napkin.

“Too many carbs,” she whispered. We heard my mom’s door open, and my sister folded up the napkin and stuck it inside her giant man-pants’ pocket.

Mom stood at the counter and wiped her eyes. The cry-calls make dinner extra unfun. I had twelve peas out of the pie and my eye on at least five more. I was looking forward to getting as many of them as possible on my fork. Peas are probably super high in carbs.

“We’re going to see your father this weekend,” said my mom in a croaky voice.

My sister’s head jerked up, but I kept looking for peas in my pie. We haven’t seen my dad since we moved here, and even though I miss him, I sort of don’t want to see him. Do you ever feel like that about your dad? I mean, since he and your mom got divorced?

“I disrespectfully decline the invitation,” said Kate.

“That is not an option. I am not leaving you here alone.”

“There are only about seventeen people in this town,” said Kate. “And I’m scarier than any of them.”

“We’ll leave very early in the morning on Saturday so we can be home in the afternoon. I have a job interview.”

“On a Saturday?” said my sister. “What kind of salt mines job are you applying for anyway?”

When my sister gets like this, she will fight with anyone about anything.

“It’s a job in insurance. That’s the day that’s best for the manager.”

Kate made a disgusted noise.

“Well, then we better not go see Jeremy at the spa. Don’t want you to miss your interview.”

My sister has started calling my dad by his first name to show her disrespect. She says he’s at a “spa” even though she knows he’s at a treatment center to help him cope with the unfair situation.

I had almost eight amazing peas on my fork when my sister turned on me.

“Rodney, isn’t it time we talked more about why we’re going to see Jeremy at his spa instead of living with him. In. Our. House?”

“Kate, leave him alone. Let him process this in his own time,” said my mom.