Z: Uh, I don’t know.
K: The Chinese!
Z enters K’s room. He’s tossing a football. He eyes her suspiciously.
K continues.
K: They invented firecrackers and fireworks and used them in battle.
Z laughs.
K defends the Chinese. K: They invented gunpowder, too, you know?
Z laughs again.
Z: Mom, it’s the way you’re saying it. You’re saying it like, “Lest you want to make fun of the Chinese for using firecrackers during war, you should probably know they created gunpowder. So they’re not to be laughed at.”
K laughs.
K: That’s right.
Z tosses the ball again.
K: Would you read this book?
Z: No.
K: You haven’t seen it.
She holds up the cover and reads the title, “The Chinese Thought of It: Amazing Inventions and Innovations.”
Z: Let me look at it tonight.
K: OK.
Z goes back to his room to hold hands with his beloved Xbox.
