What can I tell you. I missed the boat again. I meant to post this latest installment on Tuesday and before I know if it’s flipping Thursday. Well, they both start with “T”, right? Yeah, I know, a weak kneed excuse.

Anywho, here’s the latest.

Someone slaps me on my back and pulls me out of my fantasy.

“Hey, what’s happenin’?”

It’s Jimmy. He still has a friendly hand on my back.

“Gimme some skin, Flynn,” he says, extending his palm up.

I slap his hand. “Nothing much. Just got done with Biology.”

“With Pole-Up-His-Butt Craigson?”

I chuckle. “Yeah.”

“Man, I don’t envy you. He’s a tough bastard.”

“Yeah, I’ll say.”

“You got first lunch today?”

“Yeah, I think so.”

“I’ll save you a seat,” he says as he takes a right down the South Wing.

“Okay, great,” I call after him.

The afternoon will be better. I have Miss O’Donnell for English and Mr. Ernst for Art. And I get to eat lunch, too.

Lunch is another part of the day I like. Wish we were graded on it. Just after fifth period, we all get a chance to get to our lockers, get rid of some books and pick up other books, and stuff for the last two periods and pick up our lunches. This Friday, I get to dump all my books and stuff. We’ll having orals in English so no books and I never need to bring supplies to Art.

It’s always a jumble of activity in the corridor. I make my way to my locker in the East Wing. I dial my lock open and dump everything from my arms into my locker and pick up my lunch bag. When I turn to go into the cafeteria, I have to go against the tide of students heading pell mell to wherever they’re going. I feel like I’m crossing a stream of fish. I dodge and weave halfway across the corridor and nearly get swept up in the flow of students coming in  the opposite direction. Once I get to the intersection where the East, West, and South Wings meet the lobby, I take a right into another stream of students heading into the lobby. From there, it’s a short trip to the cafeteria. There should be a traffic cop at that huge intersection but he’d need eight arms.

While I wait to buy milk, I look around the cafeteria for Jimmy. He’s easy to spot because he’s over six feet tall. He looks tall sitting as well as standing. Today he’s over by the windows. I give him the high sign and he gives one back.

When I get to where the food is served, I have to go the whole length of the line because the milk is at the other end. It’s times like this I wish I could buy my lunch every day.  I  look over at the macaroni and cheese, the pizza, the meatloaf, the tapioca, the Jell-O, and the rice pudding every week and never get any of it.

Finally I get to pick out a chocolate milk way in the back where it’s the coldest, pay the nice lady, and work my way over to Jimmy.

The cafeteria is as noisy as the train station in downtown.

When I reach the table where Jimmy is, he has saved me a seat by placing fake vomit on it.

“Nice,” I say as he moves the vomit from the seat to the table.

“Ewww!” says a cute blond girl across from us.

Jimmy places an unfolded paper napkin on top of it. “There,” he says looking at the blonde.

“I can still see it,” she complains.

He sweeps the napkin and vomit off the table and onto to his lap.

“Okay?” he asks her.

“Thanks, I guess,” she says and returns to talking to the even cuter brunette next to her.

“You’re quite the gentleman, Sir Jim,” I say as I open my lunch bag.

“Always willing to help a damsel in distress.” he says. “Especially a cute blond one.”

He glances over at the blond girl but she is busy talking to the brunette.

I pull out my sandwich wrapped in wax paper. I can tell what it is already. The smell tells me it’s bologna and cheese again.

As I unwrap the sandwich, I ask, “How are you doing with the Jumble?”

“Well, I have all the acrosses done and I have one more on the downs.”

“What’s the clue?”

“ ‘A long-running tv show’ and it’s six letters.”

I look over at the newspaper and read, “A, L, S, I, E, S.”

I take a bite of my sandwich. Jimmy is looking at the newspaper page as he slowly slurps his soda. He raises an eyebrow,“ ‘Lassie’, it’s ‘Lassie’.”

Now he fills in the missing word in the small crossword puzzle. All the words have certain letters circled. The next thing to do is to write all those circled letters down, then we have to unscramble those letters.

Jimmy writes down those letters in the margin of the newspaper.

I look over his shoulder, “A, B, D, O, C, M, A, I.”

“The clue reads,” says Jimmy, “ ‘The Funan Empire was established in what is now blank in the 1st century, A. D.’ ”

He and I exchange looks.

“The Funan Empire? I never heard of that,” complains Jimmy.

I get distracted by a jingling of a chain. “Axelrod!” I exclaim. “Hey, Axelrod, whaddaya doing, boy?”

Jimmy looks away from the newspaper. “Hey, hey, Axelrod! Did they leave the delivery door open again?”

Axelrod looks up at us with those sad and pleading doggy eyes.

“Are you hungry?” asks Jimmy.

Immediately Axelrod’s tail wags like it’s motor driven.

The blond girl across the table sees him. “Oooh, what a cute dog. Oh, look at those eyes. They’re so sad. What kind of dog is he?”

“He’s a basset hound,” Jimmy says.

I pull a big piece of bologna out of my sandwich, “Hey, Axelrod.” I hold out the bologna and Axelrod’s eyes are no longer sad. I toss it gently in his direction and it disappears into his mouth.

Right after, Jimmy holds a big piece of chicken from his school lunch tray and hands it to Axelrod.

“Will he eat this cupcake?” asks the brunette next to the blond girl.

“I don’t know. Lemme see,” says Jimmy.

She hands it to Jimmy and he holds it in his palm. He brings it to Axelrod who promptly gobbles it up.

“Are you thirsty?” Jimmy asks Axelrod. Jimmy empties his soda on the floor and Axelrod laps it up.

“No more, Axelrod,” Jimmy says, “That’s it.”

“That’s it for me, too,” I say.  I hold up my hands.

Axelrod looks at both of us. His tails droops and he ambles off in search of more food and drink.

“Sorry, buddy-boy.” Jimmy says, shrugging his shoulders.

“It’s ‘Cambodia,’” says the blonde. “The answer to the Jumble.”

Jimmy looks over at me. We both look at her. Jimmy looks at the letters for a moment. “You’re right. It is ‘Cambodia’.”

“How did you know that?” Jimmy asks, incredulously.

She just smiles, “You’re welcome. C’mon, Teresa. See you around, maybe?”

We both watch them get up and leave.

“Yeah, see you around,” Jimmy calls after her. Turning to me, “How did she know that?”

“Beats me,” I say.

Looking at the clock, he says, “Well, I gotta go. I’ve got a make-up test in Spanish I have to do next period.

“You want the newspaper?”

“No, you can have it. Have you read B.C. today?”

I shake my head.

“Oh, you got to see that and the Wizard of Id. He picks up his tray. “See ya.”

“Hey,” I say, “you want to get together after school today? We could listen to records.”

“No, thanks, I have to be home.”

“Oh,” I moan.

“See ya,” he says again as he heads out the door.

Why doesn’t he want to get together after school? I’ve asked, like, three times this week.

I pick up the comics page. I’m right in the middle of reading the Wizard of Id when the bell goes off. Time for class. I leave the paper on the table and pick up my stuff and throw it in the barrel on my way out.

I spot Joe out of the corner of my eye. I momentarily panic. He doesn’t bother me, though. He has Karen on his arm. They walk by me on their way into the cafeteria, smiling and laughing, never noticing me.