فصل 46

CHAPTER 46

Flying Tigers and Baby Elephants

Well, Ally, Albert says to me at lunchtime. Before I really knew you, I used to call you ‘the Flying Tiger.’

Oooh, Albert! That’s a great name, Keisha says. Like fierce. Like nobody messes with her, right?

I wish that described me, but it doesn’t. Why in the world would he nickname me that? I thought that Albert paid more attention to things. I look up and he is watching me.

Well, he asks, aren’t you wondering why I called you that?

I shrug.

It’s not an insult. Just my observation.

I shrug again. Fine. Tell me, then.

Before the United States entered World War Two, there were a bunch of American pilots in China. They were called the Flying Tigers. They flew those planes with the shark teeth on the nose.

Wait! I say. My dad and brother love those planes!

He nods once as I try hard to shake out the mind movie of me as an airplane.

They did not have many planes, so they would repaint them every few missions. Change a bit of the design and the numbers so that the Japanese would think there were far more of them than there really were.

I sort of know what he means.

I’ve watched you. Trying to figure out how to repaint yourself for other people all the time. Trying to make them think one thing about you when the opposite was true. Like with the teachers. Always getting sent to the office.

Wow. I can’t believe Albert noticed all this.

Okay, Keisha asks. Do you name everyone like that?

I like analogies. They interest me and help me understand.

What about me? Did you have a nickname for me?

He hesitates.

Okay, Professor. Spill it, Keisha says.

He bites his lip.

Listen. You better tell me and tell me now.

The Baby.

What? The Baby? Are you kidding me? She gets a great name like the Flying Tiger and you called me the Baby? What the heck is that supposed to mean?

He turns red. I didn’t want to offend you.

Well, it’s just a little too late for that. I’m going to send you into space. Where no man has gone before. No kidding.

Is Keisha quoting Star Trek now? The girl has lost her mind!

I called you the Baby because when you’re quiet, you’re taking everything in. But when you want something, you’re loud about it and usually get your way pretty fast.

I burst out laughing. Oh, man, Keisha. That is just too perfect.

She folds her arms with a bit of a humpf but then begins to laugh, too.

Albert, do you have one for yourself? I ask.

When he doesn’t say no, I know it means yes.

Tell us! Keisha says.

I’m the Elephant.

Because you’re big? I ask.

No, Keisha says. Because he has a good memory.

Elephants do have good memories, he says. But that isn’t why I chose it as my symbolic name.

Then why? I ask.

Well . . . I’ve become a pachyderm.

Is that a religion? I ask.

His face twitches a bit. No. An elephant is a pachyderm. It means an animal with a thick skin.

I guess we’re all pachyderms, then. Or we pretend to be.

His finger picks at the side of his thumb. Elephants feel a wide range of emotions, but their behavior remains constant. On the outside, happy and sad often look the same.

I can’t remember the last time I had nothing to say about something. All this time, I thought that Albert was the science guy with as much feeling as a pinecone. But I was wrong. All that watching he does. All that thinking. He really does understand things. He definitely gets me.