Chapter 42

"Before we begin, I think we should say a few words."

Dad set down the steaming bird, picked up his knife and his steel, and started his ritual sharpening. Like Mom didn't keep all her knives sharp and ready.

"Traci..." Dad began.

"Would you mind if I went first?" I asked, standing.

"Tony?" Mom said in surprise. "Usually we have to practically threaten you to get you to say anything. And then you mumble something about football or baseball, and sit down."

"Last year it was both," Traci said helpfully.

"Let's just say that this year, I have a lot to be thankful for." I looked at dad, standing over the turkey, running his blade up and down the steel. "You might want to sit down. This is going to take a couple of minutes."

I took a deep breath.

"I'm thankful for a lot of things this year. First of all, I'm thankful that I've grown up enough to realize that I have a lot to be thankful for."

Mom laughed into her napkin, then exchanged looks with Dad.

"I'm thankful for my sister Traci, who has turned from an evil brat into a human being."

Traci, across from me at the table, grinned and stuck out her tongue.

"Mostly," I added, and she blushed. "I'm not sure exactly when this transformation happened, but I assume it was my outstanding example as a role-model that did it.

Traci stuck out her tongue again.

"I'm thankful that we finally got the Fall Show done."

"And I'm thankful that you made it through it without getting suspended," Mom added under her breath, though not far enough under.

I smiled at my mom. "I was glad I didn't get suspended too. And I got brownie points with Mr. Mulino. They ought to be worth something."

I didn't add that I was glad for uric acid crystals.

Mr. Parker suffered from gout and had missed Tuesday and Wednesday, making for a peaceful end for the short week. I'd never heard of gout outside of old movies about British aristocrats and had looked it up on the internet. While Mom didn't have any more use for Parker than I had, I didn't think she'd appreciate my thankfulness.

"I'm thankful for good friends." Robbie, Mikee, Kelly. Peter, the girl's brother. Ashley. Zoe, who could be annoying. Paula, Darlene, Allie. Luke, who I'd grown away from but was still a good friend. Ricky Calloway. Toby and Sally. Larry. Hell, the whole football team except Mike. I had too many friends to count. "A lot of good friends."

"I'm also thankful for good enemies," I added, thinking about Peter King.

"I'm thankful for our storm and its perfect timing." I looked out the big picture window, where snow was still pelting against it. The snow had started last night. In fact, I saw the first snowflake when we were lining up for our first first-down. It landed on Alex's butt as he got into position to hike the ball. It came down harder and harder. By the second quarter the entire field was white, but it never got bad enough to shut down the game. But it did manage to shut down the airport.

I glanced down at Tami beside me, then smiled at her mother at the foot of the table. "While I'm sorry that you couldn't spend Thanksgiving with your mother," I said to her, "I'm not sorry that you're spending it here with us."

She smiled back.

"Like Mom pointed out, I'm thankful for football and baseball. Though I'd be more thankful if the damn sportswriters gave us any credit at all."

The second game of the play-offs was yesterday because of the four-day weekend. The team from Yakima was good. After all, according to all the sportswriters, they were supposed to win.

We were better. Five touchdowns better.

In the Seattle paper today it wasn't so much that we won as Yakima lost. The writer deplored that a great team hadn't played their game. I guess all we did was show up. But still, only four teams were going to the Tacoma Dome next week for football, and we were one of them.

"I'm very, very thankful for two parents who have taught me that there is a time to respect authority and a time to rebel." I gave them a warm smile. "And even more because they usually support me in my revolutions."

"I hope that's not a hint," Dad said. I grinned and shrugged.

"Mostly I'm thankful that I've already found somebody very special to me," I said, looking down at Tami. She looked up and smiled, and for a moment we were the only people in the universe. "I know Mom cringes when I use the L-word, probably Mrs. Sharp too, but I know we know what we have, and we're thankful for it.

"And I'm thankful that I like cold turkey, since I've been standing up here a long time."