Howie cried on the plane. AJ switched seats with him so Howie could sit next to the window. He pressed his forehead against the glass, watching the clouds, wiping away tears whenever a fresh batch of them appeared. The seats were in rows of two and three, with Howie, AJ and Nick on one side and Kevin and Brian on the other.

Kevin leaned forward. "Howie, are you okay?" he called across the aisle.

"He's having his period," Nick said, and AJ punched him on the arm a little harder than usual.

Brian smiled sweetly. "Girl troubles?"

"Boy troubles, more like it," Nick said. AJ smacked Nick on the forehead with the palm of his hand.

Nick's head hit the back of his seat. "Hey," he squawked. "Enough of the hitting."

"Shut up, junior," AJ said.

"Okay. Jesus."

A stewardess wheeled a flimsy cart down the aisle, handing out plastic cups half-filled with Coke and minuscule bags of pretzels. Howie opened his pretzels and could barely fit his fingers in the bag. Then he split it down the middle and counted the pretzels inside. Three.

They ate quietly, no noise except the sounds of crunching. Then Kevin leaned forward. "Howie, want my pretzels?"

Howie looked at his empty bag. "If you don't want them."

The pretzels changed hands and landed on Howie's tray. He opened the bag and popped one in his mouth.

AJ looked at Nick. "Nick, want my pretzels?"

Nick shrugged. "Okay."

AJ took the sick bag from the back of the seat in front of him. "Okay. You just hold this and wait until I shit 'em out for you."

Nick looked disgusted. "Oh, fuck you."

Howie started to giggle, and the giggle spread across the airplane to Brian on the other side. "That's nasty," Brian protested weakly. "That's just nasty."

***

Chris laid on his bed, flipping absently through the channels. The other side of the room was abandoned now, the bed stripped and the last of Howie's things packed into three boxes on the desk. Howie had forgotten his Oktoberfest doll when he left in a mad rush. Chris tucked it in one of the boxes along with a mixed tape he was going to give him as a going away present.

After a couple of hours watching MTV without really watching MTV, there was a knock at the door. Chris didn't move. He heard a key slide in the lock and turn, and he sat up straight. Maybe Howie had decided not to go, on his own accord.

But it wasn't Howie. It was Howie's mother. "Oh," she said. "I thought maybe no one was here."

"I was just asleep," Chris lied.

"Oh. I didn't mean to wake you." Mama D. held up a Tupperware container. "I brought you some chocolate chip cookies."

"Thank you." It was obvious that she didn't know a thing about what had happened. He wondered what kind of story Howie had told her. He slid off the bed and gave her a light-hearted hug. "I'm going to miss your cookies."

"You can come over whenever you want. You know where we live." Mama Dorough went over and rummaged through an open box, briefly studying the Oktoberfest doll and putting it back in. "We're going to keep the room until the summer, just in case he comes back."

Chris sat on his bed. He couldn't bring himself to sit on Howie's. "Do you think he will?"

"I don't know," she said thoughtfully. "I hope he does. And I hope he doesn't. He deserves this. This is all he's ever wanted to do."

Chris looked at the floor. "I know."

Howie's brother came in, jingling the car keys in his hand. "There is nowhere to park out there." He pointed to the boxes. "Is this all of it?"

"This is all of it." Mama D. closed the box and folded the corners in, stepping aside so Howie's brother could grab one.

"I'll help you," Chris said, grabbing one of the big boxes. Howie's mother took the smaller one and they headed out to the car.

Chris stood in the parking lot while Howie's brother rearranged things in the trunk to make more space. When everything was in order, Chris set his box in the trunk next to the other two and stood back so Howie's brother could close the lid.

"Come over any time," Mama Dorough said. "I mean it. You're always welcome."

"Thanks," Chris said. But he knew he wouldn't.

He watched them get in the car. Waved at them when the drove away. And that was it. His last connection to Howie was gone.