“Oh, yes,” he coughs out. “Very nice to meet you.”
“Nice to meet y’all too.” I shake her dad’s hand, and her mom wraps me in a hug.
After we find our shoes and our things, the two of us head out of the house toward the car.
“You want me to drive?” I ask. “You seem tired.”
“I can drive,” she argues.
“You really are stubborn as hell.”
“Am not!”
“Oh yeah, then let me drive you home. You did most of the heavy lifting in there tonight. I don’t mind.”
“If you insist,” she says, tossing me her keys.
“What’s this green ribbon for?” I ask, gesturing to the metal keychain hanging off her car key.
“It’s for traumatic brain injury awareness,” she says as we climb in the car. “March is brain injury awareness month, and every year my family raises money. Last year we sold the keychains. If you look closely,Team Codyis engraved on the ribbon.”
“That’s cool. Do y’all raise a lot of money usually?” I ask, backing out of the driveway.
“It depends on the year, but last year we raised, like, five thousand dollars I think. We sell T-shirts and sweatshirts too, and then we participate in this big stroll and roll walk downtown. It’s a lot of fun, and Cody loves it.”
“I bet he does.”
“He seemed to like you too,” she says.
“You think?”
“I haven’t heard him laugh that much in a while, which is weird because you aren’t even that funny.”
I chuckle. “I’m a little funny.”
She hums under her breath and takes out her phone. Swiping on the screen, she clicks on her playlist and hits play. “Take A Chance On Me” by ABBA pours through the speakers.
“I know he uses the iPad to talk, but does he also sign?” I ask. “I thought I saw him sign to you when you were tucking him into bed.”
“Oh, no, not really. I taught him how to sign ‘I love you,’ but I think it’s the only one he knows.”
“That’s cool. And the cup, spork, and plate. Why does he use those?”
She giggles.
“Sorry if I shouldn’t ask. You can tell me to stop.”
“No.” She smiles. “I like that you’re interested. The cup is called a Nosey cup. The rim of it dips lower on one side and makes a space for his nose, so that when he tips it up, he doesn’t have to tip his head back. It makes it safer for him to swallow. The plate is built up on the sides, so that his food doesn’t slide off when he’s trying to put it on the spork, and the spork’s handle is built up, so that it’s easier for him to hold.”
“I had no idea those were things,” I say.God, I sound like an idiot.
“Adaptive equipment is really cool, and it allows him to feed himself, which is huge for him and my parents.”
“I bet. I really enjoyed hanging out with him tonight. Maybe we could do it again. I was serious about the baseball game. No one ever uses the tickets, so they’d be easy to get.”
“I’d like that,” she says. “Sorry my dad made it so weird at the end.”
“He’s just protective. I get it.”
