Maybe He Just Likes You

That night at dinner, Mila’s mother leaves the table to answer a phone call. Mila wonders if her mom is talking to her father, who left right after Hadley was born. Mila recalls how her father hadn’t been around much when she was younger and how he “always yelled” (44) and made her feel bad about herself when he was home. After her father left, Mila “didn’t hear another word from him, ever” (45), and she doesn’t miss him. Mila goes to her room after dinner and decides to practice her trumpet. The music, “Pirate Medley,” is a difficult piece, and for a moment, Mila considers pretending to play instead. However, she decides to focus on mastering “Pirate Medley.”

The next morning, Mila’s mother tells her she will be attending a Pilates class at the new gym in town, so her boss is making her come in early. The night before, Mila washed and dried her green sweater and hid it in the corner of her closet. She reminds her mother that she promised to take the girls to Old Navy to buy new clothes. She asks her mother if she can borrow one of her shirts, even though it has “paint spatters” all over it, and according to Hadley, it “looks like a tablecloth” (49).