“Somebody tell me what’s happening,” I said.

Then, when Richard didn’t answer: “What does a while mean?”

“It means a while.”

“A week?

A month?

He works four days a week at the hardware store, Richard.”

“Then he can work five.”

The bottom pancake had burned black.

Ethan picked it off the stack with his fingers, folded it in half, and ate it.

He didn’t make a face.

I almost laughed.

Then I noticed his hands, flat on the table, as if he didn’t trust them.

“The semester bill came Thursday,” Richard said.

“I’m not paying it.”