The ride back home was mostly Jodie thinking out loud as she went over mental checklists. Her dad wouldn’t be home until tomorrow evening, so there was plenty of time to decorate the school and catch whatever else they may have missed.

“I kinda want to make this a welcome party for Avi as well,” Jodie mentioned. “Should I get him his own cake? Like grab a fancy cupcake from the overpriced bakery downtown? What flavors do you think he likes?”

“No idea,” Mitch shrugged with his good shoulder.

“Well, could you find out? For me?” There was insistence in her voice and her brow was furrowed; she was entirely serious with the request.

“What? No, I barely know the guy,” scoffed Mitch. “Also, that’s kind of gay.”

“So get to know him, Mitch,” Jodie tonematched with a scoff of her own, making Mitch debate whether or not he should open the car door and eject himself onto Rt. 2. Maybe he wouldn’t die. “And I’m sorry, ‘kind of gay’? Do you no longer suck dick? I didn’t get that memo.”

“Yeah, that’s the real reason that Calvin broke up with me.” He rolled his eyes. “Iunno. There’s no way to casually get that sorta information without alerting the other person that something’s up.”

“Just figure it out? Please?” After a few more pleases, Mitch surrendered to the pressure and promised he’d find a way to bring it up. She smiled smugly, all cat with a canary, and was quick to change the topic when they crossed into the village of Frenchtown. “How do you pronounce that?” she’d ask and point to various street signs that’d presumably been named after previous residents of Monument; it was bizarre to think that these surnames painted on metal were some people’s only remaining legacy on this mortal coil.

“It’s Quebecois, not ‘real’ French,” he reminded her, but obliged regardless. In all honesty, he didn’t mind the little exercise; it gave him a chance to revisit something he rarely used these days, but still felt nostalgic for, a bit like visiting home. “Y’know,” he started as the house came into view, a modest duplex amongst the towering triple deckers. “I wonder if I’ll eventually forget how to speak it. Like after my mom and my uncle pass away, and there isn’t anyone left in my life to hold a conversation with.”

Jodie pulled into the driveway and put the car in park. “I heard there’s a French-speaking mass at St. Cecilia’s. Maybe you could check that out sometime?”

“Eh, I don’t think that the Catholic church would be too interested in having me around.”

“Why’s that? Didn’t you just say that you stopped sucking dick?” It was obvious that Jodie was having issues with keeping a straight face.

“Shit, you’re right! I’m reformed now!” Mitch exclaimed, and Jodie couldn’t hold herself back from snickering anymore; however, the sound of a door slamming drew her attention elsewhere, and her eyes shifted up to the rearview mirror.

“Guess it’s hunk o’clock,” she commented as she unbuckled her seatbelt. After she exited the car, Mitch’s head swiveled backwards when she shouted, “Aviii!”