“Tadas was sent to the principal today," announced Jonas at dinner. He wedged a huge piece of sausage into his small mouth."Why?" I asked."Because he talked about hell," sputtered Jonas, juice from the plump sausage dribbling down his chin."Jonas, don't speak with your mouth full. Take smaller pieces," scolded Mother."Sorry," said Jonas with his moth stuffed. "It's good." He finished chewing. I took a bite of sausage. It was warm and the skin was deliciously salty."Tadas told one of the girls that hell is the worst place ever and there's no escape for all eternity.""Now why would Tadas be talking of hell?" asked Papa, reaching for the vegetables."Because his father told him that if Stalin comes to Lithuania, we'll all end up there.”

“An accountant would not make his girlfriend worry he while he was away at work”“Yeah,” Jonas shot back with a smile, “but he also wouldn’t have a milf girlfriend either.”I felt my eyes round as Tate said in a father’s warning tone but still I could tell from his voice he was smiling huge, “Bub.”“Dad, seriousloy, she’s milf,” Jonas returned.“Think it, boy, don’t say it.” Tate replied.“Right,” Jonas muttered but he was still smiling at me and his smile was unrepentant. Jonas had called me a milf. I knew what that meant and I didn’t know what to do with it.Seriously, Tate from head to toe.”

“Jonas went and sat beside them while his father untied Lily's hair ribbons and combed her hair. He placed one hand on each of their shoulders. With all of his being he tried to give each of them a piece of the memory: not of the tortured cry of the elephant, of their towering, immense creature and the meticulous touch with which it had tended its friend at the end.But his father had continued to comb Lily's long hair, and Lily, impatient, had finally wriggled under her brother's touch. "Jonas," she said, "you're hurting me with your hand.”

“I ate him," said the homunculus, biting into his sausage.The kids couldn't hide their looks of horror.He smiled, sausage juice running down his chin. "Oh, don't worry - I cooked him first. I'm not a barbarian.”

“She shook her head. “No, Jonas.”“ ‘No, Jonas’ is all you ever say,” he responded with a hint of savagery. He knew he was unfair, but he was just so damned miserable.Her smile wavered into a warmth that calmed his anger. “Not always.”He shut his eyes as the memory of wild nights overpowered him. Good God, at this rate, he’d be bawling like a motherless calf.”

“Jonas, stop doing that!""What? Helping you?" He picked up the knife she'd dropped and handed it to her."No, popping out of thin air."Jonas smiled at her then. A huge grin, and shook his head. Then gave one quick nod, turned and was gone.”