Kramer and Jerry look at me, anxious to hear more.
“Consider the possibilities, boys! What if I—”
“Can’t,” he says, interrupting. It takes me a minute to backtrack my thoughts, to figure out what question he’s answering. Oh, yes. The tires. I turn to him, and wait for the rest. I know it’ll come, eventually. A full minute ticks by.
“Spent the refund already.”
I breathe in slowly through my mouth and nose, knowing from experience yelling will give me a headache and my words will flutter over his head like a volley of feathers.
“On what, exactly?”
There is a pause and I turn back to Kramer and Jerry. Their eagerness was not for me, but for their empty food-dish, and they begin to eye me accusingly. I fill their bowl with pellets and go to collect Brett’s half-empty plate.
“Deposit. On
