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The exterminator already comes weekly, I said.
每周滅蟲的人會來，我說。
I'll see you Sunday, the realtor said. I'll come over for a walk-through before the inspection.
我周日去你家，驗收之前我會先檢查一遍，經紀人說。
That night Ike and I covered scrap siding in glue and flypaper and scattered our torture devices throughout the basement, hoping to reduce the number of crickets.
那天晚上我和艾克用膠水和粘蒼蠅紙把壞了的墻板都蓋上了。整個地下室的廢舊東西都讓我倆扔了，希望能減少蟋蟀的數量。
Ike shivered and stuck out his tongue at the crickets, which flung themselves from wall to celling.
艾克吐著舌頭戰戰兢兢地對著滿屋子的蟋蟀。
What if we live here forever? He asked.
如果我們永遠住在這怎么辦？艾克問。
People used to do that, I said. Lived in one house their entire life. My mother, for instance.
有人這樣，一輩子只住在一個房子里，我媽媽就是，我說。
I pictured her house, a two-bedroom white ranch with window boxes, brick chimney, and decorative screen door. The driveway was unpaved-an arc of sand, grass, and crushed oyster shells. People didn't landscape in fancy ways then. Mom had tended her azaleas and boxwoods with halfhearted practicality, in case the chickens or sheep broke loose.
我腦子里浮現出了那個房子。一個有兩間臥室的平房，窗戶下面放著花箱，磚頭砌的煙囪，帶著裝飾的紗門。車道都沒有鋪，上面都是石頭、草和壓碎了的牡蠣殼。當地的人對園藝并不太感興趣。但是媽媽一直種著杜鵑花和黃楊樹。事實上媽媽也不是全心全意照看，只是防著雞和羊會跑出來把花都吃了。
I thought about Mom then, and her parrot. If we moved, this might be my last chance to hear her voice.
我想起了媽媽和她的鸚鵡。如果我們搬家了，這次也許是最后一次聽到她的聲音。
I pull into a rest stop, one of those suspicious gas stations and fast-food combos. Ike kicks the back of the passenger seat. I scowl in the rearview.
我把車開進了一個停車休息站，這有臭名昭著的配有速食店的加油站。艾克踢了一下副駕駛的座背，我皺著眉看了一眼后視鏡。
I need to stretch, he says. I have a cramp.
我得下去伸伸腿，都要抽筋了，他說。
Ike's legs are the size of my wrist, hairless and pale. He is sweet andunassuming. He does not yet know he will be picked on for being undersized,for growing facial hair ten years too late.
艾克的腿和我的手腕一樣粗，頭發不多，臉色發白。但是他性格溫和又很低調。他還不知道長大后會有人因為他體型太小、發育不良對他指指點點。
I want to wrap him in plastic and preserve him so that he can always bethis way, this content. To my heart, Ike is still a neonate, a soft body I couldgently fold and carry inside of me again. You can just see the innocencefalling off child's face-every-day.
我想把他包在塑料袋里，保護他，讓他永遠像現在一樣容易滿足。在我心里，艾克還是那個剛出生的嬰兒，我把他柔軟的身子輕輕地抱在懷里?？墒乾F實卻是我每天都能看見天真在他臉上消失。
Ike and I lock the car and head into the gas station. A burly man with blackhair curling across his shoulders hustles into the rest room. He breathes hard, scratches his ear, and checks his phone. Next, a sickly-looking man whosepants are too big shuffles inside. He pauses to wipe his forehead with an elbow. think, these people are someones' children.
我們把車鎖好進了加油站。一個留著一頭及肩的黑卷發的大漢橫沖直撞地進了廁所。他喘著粗氣，一邊抓耳朵，一邊擺弄著手機。接著一個拖著肥褲子看上去病怏怏的人進去了。他用手肘擦了一下腦門。我想他們也是某個人的孩子。
I clench Ike's hand. I can feel his knuckles the small bones beneath his flesh.
我緊緊地握著艾克的手。我能感覺到他手上的小關節。
Inside, the toilets hiss. hold Ike by the shoulders. I do not want him to go in alone.
廁所里面都是噓聲，我把著艾克的肩膀，不想讓他進去
Garlic burst, he reads from a cellophane bag. Big flavor!
艾克看著一個塑料袋，看到大蒜口味，蒜味無與倫比！
