My Cardboard Balcony

by Belinda Roddie "We'll name her Jumping Bean." "No." "Because she's so hyper and bouncy! Like a jumping bean!" "John, there is no way I'm calling our first cat 'Jumping Bean.'" "Okay, fine. Too long? Just 'Bean,' then." "Dude, that's worse!" "All right, then, Mister Name Man. What do you propose?" "I dunno. Lucy, or Callie, or Sadie..." "Names ending in a goofy 'ee' sound? Gimme a break." "Shut up, I'm not done! I was also thinking Zelda..." "Zelda? Like, 'Legend of Zelda' Zelda?" "Yeah, so? What's wrong with that?" "..." "What's wrong with Zelda? She's a BAMF in some of the games, let me remind you. Even though she gets kidnapped. But still." "..." "It's a nice name! I've worked with kids named Zelda!" "...Aaron?...

She was trying to sell me a lemon, and I wasn't going to let it slide. I got back in my finicky truck passed down from my grandfather and rattled my way home, my brother staring at me as I lurched into the driveway. "No car?" he asked as I stepped onto the pavement, pulling off my cap. "Nope. She tried to sell me a lemon." My brother frowned. "Why was she trying to sell you citrus at a car shop?" Yeah, did I mention my brother was kind of an idiot?