One Kool Kat

Julius gets in the car today, buckles his seat belt, opens the glove box and pulls out a pair of dark glasses. "My dad lets me where these," he says as he leans back and surveys the world through his shades.

He leans forward and turns on the radio, listens for a sec, then cranks it up uncomfortably loud. He glances at me out of the corner of his eye to see what I'll do.

I lean up and say, "That's a litle loud," and turn it down somewhere between where he wants it and where I want it -- a mother-son compromise.

He leans back, staring straight ahead and smiles.