"Ha!" answered the boyfriend. "That's funny. No, it's a, uh… fiddle."

"Justin, this is my little brother, August," said Via. "And that's Jack."

"Are you Via's boyfriend?" Auggie asked mischievously, and his sister pulled his cap down over his face.

"It's a type of music," said Justin. "Like Creole music."

Two minutes later the sister came back with this guy named Justin. Seemed like a cool enough dude. Longish hair. Little round glasses. He was carrying a big long shiny silver case that ended in a sharp point on one end.

"Hey, guys," said Justin, shaking our hands. He seemed a little nervous. I guess maybe it was because he was meeting August for the first time. Sometimes I forget what a shock it is the first time you meet him. "Cool room."

"Justin's a fiddler," said Via. "He's in a zydeco band."

"What the heck is a zydeco band?" said Auggie, looking at me.

"What's in your case?" I said. "A machine gun?"

"You should tell people that's a machine gun," said Auggie. "Nobody would ever mess with you."

"What's Creole?" I said.

"Are you from Louisiana?" I asked.

"Okay, see you guys later. Bye," he said.

"No, um," he answered, pushing up his glasses. "I'm from Brooklyn."

I don't know why this made me want to laugh.

"Ha, I guess you're right," Justin said, nodding and tucking his hair behind his ears. "Creole's the kind of music they play in Louisiana," he said to me.

"Bye!"

"Bye!"

"I'm from Brooklyn," I said, and we both started laughing hysterically.

"Come on, Justin," said Via, pulling him by the hand. "Let's go hang out in my room."

As soon as they left the room, Auggie looked at me, smiling.