(Like ten minutes after this)
"I see you got a parent today."
"Yep," Steve nods, watching Hopper pull a chair out and sit down with his lunch across from him. "I’m with my dad. He's over there."
"Why is he all the way over there and you're over here?"
"Coach Benny said I can sit here 'til someone needs the table so you can't tell me to leave."
"I wasn't planning on it."
Hopper lets the silence linger. He busies his hands with sweeting his tea and waits. He's learned that this kid tends to say more when he's not asked.
"I’m mad at my dad," Steve eventually says. "He's a butthead...don't tell him I said that."
"Did you know that there's a man on the roof at my house?" Steve asks. "He's fixin' it 'cause it rains in the attic so he's allowed to be there. That's why I’m with Dad 'cause I can't be friends with the roof man even though I wouldn't get on the roof. Again. Mama went to the sal-lawn and Dad and me were supposed to go to the zoo but we can't 'cause stupid Greg."
"I dunno," Steve shrugs. "He's over there."
There's no subtle way to look behind you so Hopper doesn't try.
He twists in his chair and - "That's Greg Samuels."
"My dad is his lawyer or something."
He knows Greg. They were on the football team together in high school. He owns a construction company out of Birdseye. Why the hell would he need a criminal defense attorney?
Hopper doesn't have time to dwell on it.
"I don't like Greg 'cause there are seals at the zoo and I wanna see 'em," Steve says. "I talked to a lady on the phone 'cause - I wasn't bothering her or nothing. The zoo said I can call sometimes, jus' not a whole lot 'cause they gotta take care of the animals."
"Anyways, she said that seals wave at you," He continues. "She said they can clap their flippers and they eat fish, and they bark. Like a dog, Mr Hopper. So cool!"
"But Dad said we gotta see them a different time," He says, excitement seeping out of his voice. "It's okay 'cause Dad works a lot. He's really busy and he works really hard so he can buy me stuff and - it's okay."
"We'll go when Dad's not busy," He reassures himself. "The seals don't drive so they won't go no where."
"What about the monkeys?" Hopper asks. "Can they drive?"
"Hm," He thinks about it. "They can't drive 'cause they don't got a license, Mr Hopper. They just monkey around like me."
"You know," He says. "I’m pretty sure the eighth grade class takes a trip to the zoo at the end of the school year."
"I won't have to wait that long 'cause me and Dad are gonna go together."
