The Anomalies by Joey Goebel Page A

and I think there oughtta be more to somebody than that, dammit. I think he just caught me rolling my eyes at him.
    “So, Opal, would you like to start the group off and tell us a happy memory?”
    “Shit. What the hell,” I say. Better than listening to him talk about his antiques and his shoes. “The first thing that comes to mind is this thing I used to do with my ex-boyfriend Manny. This was about a month ago. I’d have Manny wear the same pair of underwear for two weeks straight, right?”
    “Uh-huh,” says Kip.
    “And then, when the two weeks were up, I’d have him take off his drawers and hide ’em real good somewhere in my house. Then—now this is the happiness part—then, I’d sniff around my house all day until I found ’em.”
    I get a big laugh out of the group for that one. But Kip looks uncomfortable, acting like a prude even though he’ll probably go home tonight and do the same thing with his Hispanic boyfriend. He looks at me like he either feels sorry for me or wants to hit me. Or I guess he’d be more likely to bitch-slap me.
    “Oh, Opal. Oh.” He jots something down on his little notepad. I know he’s gonna tell my underwear story to my nieces, and they’ll all be rarin to put me in a home once and for all to end my foolishness. But I’ve got a news bulletin for them: The foolishness is just beginning. The band’s gonna practice every night at Ember’s, and we’re taking off soon whether they like it or not.
    “Let’s move on to Trixie,” Kip continues. “And maybe we should just forget about the happiness thing. Just tell me what’s been going on in your life.”
    “Well, I had a talk with my friend about him taking my medication like you told me to,” says Trixie.
    “Oh good. With Jesus, you mean?”
    “Yes. And when I was talking to him, I got to thinking about some of the things Opal said, and well, long story short, we ended up sleeping with one another.”
    I give Trixie a big thumbs up. The rest of the group applauds her. Kip looks like he’s gonna cry, or do something, I don’t know what. I’m suddenly glad I’ve been coming to these things, just to show these old people that they don’t have to be what they’re supposed to. I wish Kip could pick up on that, but he’s always too busy changing the subject.
    “Okay. Maybe we should move on to Carl. Carl, you seem much happier this week. Why is that?”

X. Talk to Strangers

Ray
    I can’t get it understood. I once left my family to go to war. Now they have left me when I went for peace. Missing Aymon and Milkah, this last week has been better for my head. Since it’s like familiness in the home here at Ember’s.
    Luster and I get home from the work near the same times. Aurora and Opal stay at home except for Opal taking and picking Ember up from school. Sometimes the females have dance routines to Footloose soundtrack figured out for us when we come in.
    Once we have togetherness, we eat dinner. Every night. Sometimes going out to a place like Ponderosa. But usually ordering pizza or eating Opal’s cook-out food. We listen to good music as we eat food and then when we digest it. We like records of those such as Swingin Utters, Pixies, Big Audio Dynamite, Vindictives, Billy Ocean, Boris the Sprinkler, and Go-Go’s when we eat. We like Pogues, Trash Brats, Crash Test Dummies, Mullets, Andrew W.K., Cars, and Rezillos as we digest. Then we are prepared to rock out for the hours of night.
    We enjoy not putting our equipment up. Then we make fun of the people on television or play something. We like the board game Guess Who? You have to figure out what person the other player has on a card by asking, “Does your person have blonde hairs?” or “Does your person wear a hat?” or such.
    But Aurora changed the rules. When we play, you can’t ask anything about how the way the person looks. Instead, you ask about the person’s life. Like “Did your person date a baseball player in high school?” or “Does