Milk(33)

            —You see, he said.

            I pulled the lighter from my pocket, and this time I didn’t flick it—I just tossed it over to him.

            —Catch! I said.

            He flicked it and saw that the flame was only an inch high. He looked at me and then set it down on the coffee table.

            —They say he fucks his cows.

            —Yeah, I said and watched the screen.

            They played a few bars of a new tune.

            —Can’t we watch the show with the albatrosses? I said.

            —Okay.

            For a long time, without saying a word, we watched the program about the enormous birds. The narrator said they could fly up to a 600 miles a day. They sailed on the wind almost without moving their wings. We saw how they dived after fish, and we saw an albatross egg that was the size of a honey melon.

            At some point, my brother turned his head and looked at me. I didn’t look at him, but I could feel his gaze; he watched me for a pretty long time. Then he turned his attention back to the screen.

            —Promise you’ll never do that again, he said under his breath.