PIPER
Akim is in the living room when I find him. He has a bowl of popcorn on his lap and the remote in his hand, furiously flipping through channels faster than the television can keep up.
"What are you doing?" I ask.
"Counting how many channels Timofey subscribes to," he says, not slowing his clicking or looking in my direction.
"Just go to the guide page."
"Channels aren't numbered the way they used to be, you know? 1, 2, 3, on and on. Now it's CineDine 1 and CineDine 2 or The Game Channel and The Game Channel Late Night. I just want a straight-up number. Why is that so hard?"
I sit on the far end of the couch and reach for his popcorn. "Why does it matter?"
"It doesn't," he says. "I just want to know how much money he's wasting. Cable is basically a scam. Only the boomers still have it. Plus, he never even watches television. What does he need 1,349 channels for?"
I whistle. "That's a lot."
