Jack stuck his head through the doorway of his son’s bedroom. “Kyle, Mom says dinner’s ready in ten.”

Kyle lay on his bed, eyes glued to his phone. “Uh-huh.”

Jack stepped into the room. It might not be the best time to ask, but there seemed never to be good times to ask things anymore. “Did you go to all your classes today?”

Kyle’s eyes did not move. “Uh-huh.”

“That’s good.” Jack lingered, searching once again for common ground with which to break through the wall of ice.

His eyes found the shelf across from Kyle’s bed. On this shelf, in neat ranks, stood dozens of PEZ dispensers. Superheroes stood shoulder to shoulder with Star Wars characters. Villains surrounded Santa Claus. Ulysses S. Grant and Rutherford B. Hayes kept company with Mario and Luigi.

 Jack stepped nearer the shelf. “There’s a lot of memories on this shelf,” he said.

“Uh-huh.”

“There’s the Joker, on the end. I gave him to you when you scored your first touchdown. That was fourth grade, wasn’t it?”

“Probably.”

“You dropped him on the tile floor and broke off a piece of his base. We tried to glue it back, but we couldn’t get it to stay. You almost cried, but you didn’t. I started calling him Gimpy Joker and that made you laugh. Remember that?”

“Not really.”

“And there’s the stormtrooper I gave you when you got perfect attendance in sixth grade.” The words were out of his mouth before he realized that was probably not the best subject to mention these days.

He moved on quickly. “I don’t remember when you got them all, but I remember most of them. Those presidents are from the set you got when you made first chair in eighth grade band. I wish you would still play. You’re so talented.”

“You can have ‘em back, if you want.”

“Oh no! I’d never take them. There’s so many special moments here.”

“Dad, can you just leave me alone for a while?”

Jack took a breath and decided this was a moment to resist. “Kyle, you always want me to leave you alone. Sometimes I just want to spend a few minutes with you, talk to you like we used to. We used to have such great times together, and now you look at me like you hate me. Where did I go wrong?”

“I don’t know. Could you please just go away for minute.”

“I don’t want to go away. I want my son back.”

Kyle’s eyes moved from his phone. He rolled out of bed and shot up like a bolt. “If you won’t leave me alone, I’ll leave you alone with your toys!” He stormed out and slammed the door behind him.

The vibration in the walls caused the Gimpy Joker to wobble.

Jack leapt to catch him. It was too late.

The Joker toppled into the Halloween ghost beside him. The ghost hit the vampire and the witch. Each of them took out two or three others. They fell like dominoes until no Pez memory was left standing. Those at the edges spilled onto the floor.

At Jack’s feet lay the Gimpy Joker, with his green hair, ruby red mouth, and thin row of white teeth. He grinned up at Jack with his unchanging smile, as though it would always be yesterday.