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The other day, Jesse called to ask if I remembered the summer we stayed with Chilton outside Oroville in a large house that Chilton and his girlfriend, Danielle, finagled because we kids would be visiting for the summer. I think it was the last summer I spent over there because I started high school that fall and had summer jobs after that.

Chilton and Jesse kept track of every game of Crazy 8s they played together that summer, using a piece of paper tacked to the wall as the tally sheet. As I recall, they ended the summer very nearly tied. I say “summer” but we were likely there only a week or two.

At the end of our visit I accompanied Chilton to the local high school to register Christopher for classes because he was moving to Oroville to live with Chilton and Danielle. That must have been his 10^th grade year since I was about to start 9^th grade myself.

I have a single photo from that summer, taken with someone’s instamatic camera. The wrist strap is draped across the lens so the photo looks like you’re peering past foliage or through a keyhole. I’m standing on the muddy shore of some lake wearing a tie-dyed tank top and a pair of white shorts instead of a swim suit. My favorite parts are my long hands and feet, welfare glasses, and sunny smile full of crooked teeth.

I bear more than a passing resemblance to another skinny, toothy, kid.

Jesse asked me if I remembered him hitchhiking alone into town to visit the local library but I don’t. I know that I spent a lot of time trying to protect Jesse when we were little so I imagine I did a fair bit of that when we were in Oroville together. I can’t really believe I would have let him out of my sight long enough for him to head into town on his own. After all, Jesse was probably only 7 years old that summer. But memory is fallible and Jesse’s memories are as valid as my own. So maybe he did hitchhike into town alone to visit the library. All I can really remember is the crazy 8s tally sheet, Chilton and Danielle drinking and fighting, and a vague sense that the house had a central room that we used for eating and playing cards.

Offering: a deck of cards