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The exterminator already comes weekly, I said.
每周灭虫的人会来，我说。
I'll see you Sunday, the realtor said. I'll come over for a walk-through before the inspection.
我周日去你家，验收之前我会先检查一遍，经纪人说。
That night Ike and I covered scrap siding in glue and flypaper and scattered our torture devices throughout the basement, hoping to reduce the number of crickets.
那天晚上我和艾克用胶水和粘苍蝇纸把坏了的墙板都盖上了。整个地下室的废旧东西都让我俩扔了，希望能减少蟋蟀的数量。
Ike shivered and stuck out his tongue at the crickets, which flung themselves from wall to celling.
艾克吐着舌头战战兢兢地对着满屋子的蟋蟀。
What if we live here forever? He asked.
如果我们永远住在这怎么办？艾克问。
People used to do that, I said. Lived in one house their entire life. My mother, for instance.
有人这样，一辈子只住在一个房子里，我妈妈就是，我说。
I pictured her house, a two-bedroom white ranch with window boxes, brick chimney, and decorative screen door. The driveway was unpaved-an arc of sand, grass, and crushed oyster shells. People didn't landscape in fancy ways then. Mom had tended her azaleas and boxwoods with halfhearted practicality, in case the chickens or sheep broke loose.
我脑子里浮现出了那个房子。一个有两间卧室的平房，窗户下面放着花箱，砖头砌的烟囱，带着装饰的纱门。车道都没有铺，上面都是石头、草和压碎了的牡蛎壳。当地的人对园艺并不太感兴趣。但是妈妈一直种着杜鹃花和黄杨树。事实上妈妈也不是全心全意照看，只是防着鸡和羊会跑出来把花都吃了。
I thought about Mom then, and her parrot. If we moved, this might be my last chance to hear her voice.
我想起了妈妈和她的鹦鹉。如果我们搬家了，这次也许是最后一次听到她的声音。
I pull into a rest stop, one of those suspicious gas stations and fast-food combos. Ike kicks the back of the passenger seat. I scowl in the rearview.
我把车开进了一个停车休息站，这有臭名昭著的配有速食店的加油站。艾克踢了一下副驾驶的座背，我皱着眉看了一眼后视镜。
I need to stretch, he says. I have a cramp.
我得下去伸伸腿，都要抽筋了，他说。
Ike's legs are the size of my wrist, hairless and pale. He is sweet andunassuming. He does not yet know he will be picked on for being undersized,for growing facial hair ten years too late.
艾克的腿和我的手腕一样粗，头发不多，脸色发白。但是他性格温和又很低调。他还不知道长大后会有人因为他体型太小、发育不良对他指指点点。
I want to wrap him in plastic and preserve him so that he can always bethis way, this content. To my heart, Ike is still a neonate, a soft body I couldgently fold and carry inside of me again. You can just see the innocencefalling off child's face-every-day.
我想把他包在塑料袋里，保护他，让他永远像现在一样容易满足。在我心里，艾克还是那个刚出生的婴儿，我把他柔软的身子轻轻地抱在怀里。可是现实却是我每天都能看见天真在他脸上消失。
Ike and I lock the car and head into the gas station. A burly man with blackhair curling across his shoulders hustles into the rest room. He breathes hard, scratches his ear, and checks his phone. Next, a sickly-looking man whosepants are too big shuffles inside. He pauses to wipe his forehead with an elbow. think, these people are someones' children.
我们把车锁好进了加油站。一个留着一头及肩的黑卷发的大汉横冲直撞地进了厕所。他喘着粗气，一边抓耳朵，一边摆弄着手机。接着一个拖着肥裤子看上去病怏怏的人进去了。他用手肘擦了一下脑门。我想他们也是某个人的孩子。
I clench Ike's hand. I can feel his knuckles the small bones beneath his flesh.
我紧紧地握着艾克的手。我能感觉到他手上的小关节。
Inside, the toilets hiss. hold Ike by the shoulders. I do not want him to go in alone.
厕所里面都是嘘声，我把着艾克的肩膀，不想让他进去
Garlic burst, he reads from a cellophane bag. Big flavor!
艾克看着一个塑料袋，看到大蒜口味，蒜味无与伦比！
