we go to sonic for milkshakes. i ask if he wants vanilla or chocolate. he isn’t sure, so i order one of each.

we stop at the park and sit on our bench. ducks are staging a parade for our benefit. there’s a pause in the rain, but i manage to sit in the last of the puddles.

i hand him the vanilla shake and ask him to try it first. with one extended inhalation, he downs two thirds of it and shrugs.

so i hand him the chocolate one and he repeats the process, downing almost all of it in one long gulp.

he pauses. this one, he says, and then finishes off what’s left.

i stare down into the bottom of the vanilla cup and suck up the dregs.

upside: he left me the cherry.

downside: i hate cherries.

once a big brother, always a big brother.

best shakes ever.