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is,” Amy said,
pointing. Walking halfway down the aisle, Amy stopped in front of her
husband.
    Peter looked up from his phone on his
lap. “Oh, hey honey, I was just texting you,” he said as
he stood.
    “Hey Peter,” I said,
reaching over to give him a hug.
    “Hey Jamie, Sarah,” he
said, giving me a pat on the back and waving at Sarah. He motioned
past him. “Here, go on in.”
    “Thanks,” I said. I made my
way down the aisle first so Sarah would be sandwiched between me and
Amy. We pushed down our velvet seats and sat down.
    Sarah smiled at me, shoving a handful
of popcorn into her mouth. I picked up a piece of the non-butter
soaked popcorn and examined it for a minute before popping it in my
mouth. Whatever the girl had poured all over the popcorn, it sure
tasted like butter. It tasted like butter and salt exploding in my
mouth.
    I cringed a little, but after a minute,
I scooped up a handful of popcorn and shoveled it into my mouth.
    The movie started with a loud
trumpeting sound. Sarah bounced up and down in her seat, popcorn
flying out of the bucket in her lap and going in all directions.
    I grabbed the bucket and placed it at
her feet.
    “Candy,” she demanded.
    “Shoot.” Leaning over to
look at Amy, I whispered, “Did we get candy?”
    Amy nodded and kept her eyes on the
screen as she pulled a bag of candy out of her purse. She opened it,
handing Sarah a couple, but keeping the bag.
    Sarah gobbled up all the candies in
record time. “More,” she said to Amy.
    “You know the deal, Sarah,”
Amy said.
    Sarah kicked out her legs and refocused
on the movie.
    The movie started with a racing scene:
a small man was on top of a horse, gripping the reins, then the
camera panned to the horse’s feet thundering down the track.
    Sarah’s eyelids were wide, the
lenses of her eyes reflecting the movie. I focused on the plot and
felt myself being drawn into the plot as the racehorse tripped mere
feet after crossing the finish line. I shoveled handfuls of popcorn
into my mouth, my gaze never once wavering from the screen.
    The protagonist, a preteen boy, turned
to the jockey and yelled, “Dad! They’re going to kill
Lucky!”
    “Oh, son.” The boy’s
father pulled him into a hug. “Sometimes an animal’s
injury is just too great and the vet needs to put them down.”
    “Not the doctor, Dad! He said
Lucky could heal but never race again. Mr. Jones and Mr. Hamilton are
going to kill Lucky so they can get twenty million dollars from their
insurance! Please, Dad, you have help him!”
    “I’ll help him, son,”
the jockey said.
    A tear crawled down my cheek. As the
jockey went to guard Lucky Stars until the doctor and police got
there, more tears spilled from my eyes. For the rest of the movie, my
face was wet with fresh tears.
    And at the end, when Lucky Stars raced
again, winning the Kentucky Derby, I was positively sobbing. I
stuffed yet another handful of popcorn in my mouth, and when I went
for another, my fingers scraped the bottom of the bucket.
    A hand touched my elbow.
    Wiping my face on the shoulder of my
shirt, I turned.
    My sister was leaning over Sarah, who
was still completely captivated by the movie.
    “Hey, you okay?” Amy
whispered.
    “Yes,” I whispered back.
    “You sure? You’re a little
bit… loud. Go to the bathroom, I’ll keep an eye on
Sarah.”
    “I’m sorry.” I
laughed, wiping the tears away with my hand. “Yeah, maybe I
should go to the bathroom.” Standing, I stepped over each of
their legs in turn, and then walked up the aisle. At the trash can, I
threw away my now-empty, large, popcorn container.
    In the bathroom, my reflection stared
back at me. I looked like an absolute mess. Red splotches covered my
pale face and gathered at the tip of my nose. I washed my face over
the sink, scrubbing at my cheeks.
    “Did you watch a sad movie?”
the elderly woman at the next sink over said.
    I tried to grin at her. “Yeah.”
I grabbed a handful of paper towels and dabbed