“Are you coming downstairs?” Aunt Florence took Rosie from me.
“In a few minutes.” I didn’t quite know how to take all of Aunt Florence’s questions. Why did she call my mom and get her all upset? Now, she basically told me she knew I didn’t do anything. It was confusing. Everybody was telling me to talk to them. I needed Sally to figure it all out.
That night my mom made fried chicken and mashed potatoes. She also made chicken gravy that was out of this world so even though I didn’t have a big appetite, I couldn’t pass up the whole meal. And if Aunt Florence made one of her famous pies, I guess I was going to have a piece of that too.
When I walked downstairs I thought everyone would be staring at me. Rosie was sitting on Gramp’s lap. He looked up for a second and had Rosie wave to me. Maybe he wasn’t mad at me. Actually I couldn’t think of a time when Gramps was mad at me. So, Gramps and Aunt Florence were on my side, maybe. I had to figure out how I could still play softball. The grounding was so unfair, I couldn’t believe it.
Uncle Mike and my dad were sitting with Gramps and Rosie so Aunt Florence and my mom must be in the kitchen. Uncle Mike and my dad didn’t even look up so they were mad. Okay, two against two. My mom was the tie-breaker. Aunt Florence already told me that she knew I hadn’t taken Uncle Mike’s whiskey. Maybe she was talking to my mom right now about it. I thought maybe I should stay out of the kitchen. The problem was I knew what had happened last night and I had lied about it.
Well, I only had the choice of the kitchen or the living room so the kitchen was it. At least, I could help bring the food to the table and it gave me something to do. I walked into the kitchen and the conversation stopped dead. I guess they had been talking about me.
“Can I help with anything?” I said.
“No, I think we’re fine,” my mom said.
My mom obviously wanted to get back to the conversation without me around. I started walking out of the kitchen. Upstairs was the place for me. I’d listen to music until dinner was on the table.
“I need some help with the dinner rolls,” Aunt Florence said. “Colette, will you take them out of the bag and put them in a basket. You know the routine.”
My mom put the rolls in a paper bag sprinkled with a fair amount of water and then put them in the oven to warm up. I got a hot pad because the bag was really hot and put them in a basket lined with a linen napkin. I put another linen napkin over them to keep them warm. I took them to the table with a stick of butter on a plate.
I took my time going back into the kitchen. The mashed potatoes were ready with circles of melted butter on the top and a little paprika. There was corn in another bowl. I grabbed both bowls and brought them to the table. Usually Gramps was sitting at his place from the minute the rolls arrived but he was far too busy in the living room making Rosie laugh.
I decided to sit down and wait for the rest of the family. My mom and Aunt Florence brought a huge platter of fried chicken to the table. It smelled delicious.
“C’mon, everybody. Dinner’s ready,” my mom said.
Rosie sat in the high chair. Uncle Mike and Aunt Florence were on either side of her. She was the main attraction so I didn’t need to talk at all. My subjects were limited anyway. I couldn’t talk about softball since I was banned from it for three weeks. I couldn’t talk about Sally and the Reynolds family, a great conversation subject, because I hadn’t been over there for two months. I couldn’t talk about the store because Jake would come into the conversation.
I chose not to look at Uncle Mike and my dad who were busy chatting away about the Minnesota Twins baseball team and how their season was going. Gramps waved and clapped for Rosie. Aunt Florence and my mom were talking about her retirement from St. Anastasia’s School.
“Eat up, everybody,” my mom said. “Don’t forget, Florence made a lemon meringue pie. Does anybody want anything? Cup of coffee?”
“I’ll have a cup,” Gramps said.
“Me too,” said Aunt Florence.
“John, coffee?” my mom asked.
“No thanks, Gemma.”
Uncle Mike hadn’t said a word to me the whole dinner. Now he mumbled something.
“I’ll take that as a yes for coffee,” my mom said. My mom brought people their coffee and Aunt Florence followed with her pie.
“Delicious pie, Aunt Florence. May I have another piece,” I said.
“Me too,” Gramps said.
“Help yourself.” Aunt Florence looked at me and smiled.
I had two friends in the family; Aunt Florence and Gramps. Since both of them loved my softball games, maybe I could get them to help change my punishment. At least, the no softball part of it.
Chapter Nineteen
Too Many Cooks
I told Suzy at lunch that I was grounded for three weeks. Suzy was very upset when she found out that I wouldn’t be going to practice or the games either for the whole three weeks.
“What if we’re in the championship? I can’t even think about the championship without you at third.”
“Talk to my mom and dad about it,” I said.
“I wonder what Coach Richter is going to say,” Suzy said.
“My mom said she’d call him today.”
“What did you do? I was grounded for one weekend once
and I thought that was bad.”
Suzy knew Jake was working at our store but she didn’t know I had recommended him for all the wrong reasons. She didn’t know about Musolf’s either and I wasn’t going to tell her about my babysitting disaster. I knew she wouldn’t tell anybody if I confided in her but I wasn’t ready to do that. “I can’t talk about it.”
“Did you lie? That’s something that drives my parents crazy. In fact, that’s why I was grounded. I lied about where I was going because I wanted to go somewhere else. My mom went into a long speech about how once trust is lost, it’s hard to get it back.”
“My mom says that too.”
“So you did lie. Well, it must have been a doozy.”
It was a funny thing now because I wasn’t one bit interested in catching Jake’s eye in the hall or hoping he would smile at me. The good thing about that was I wouldn’t be red-faced anymore when I was talking to him. I didn’t want to be working with him at all.
“When I was grounded, I was with my parents all the time. I didn’t go off to my room. I hoped they’d get sick of me.” Suzy took a big bite of her ham sandwich.
“You’re a genius. I’m going to be with my mom so much, she’s going to want to get away from me.”
“You’ll have to tell me how it works out.”
To tell you the truth, I couldn’t wait to get home. Instead of lying on my bed, listening to Blood, Sweat, and Tears or Chicago while I felt sorry for myself, I went into the kitchen to help my mom.
She was surprised to say the least. She kept saying things like, “Don’t you have any homework?” and “You don’t need to be helping.” Then she said, “I’m surprised you’re not listening to music.”
I said, “Oh, no. I want to learn all about cooking. After all, I’m going to have to cook someday. You know, when I have a family.”
My mom raised her eyebrows. She said, “But...” and then closed her mouth.
Good. She was getting nervous. “What did you say, Mom?” I had the potato peeler in my hand. I went to the sink to wash the five large potatoes she had out.
“Nothing. I didn’t say anything.”
“Oh, I thought I heard but. But, what?”
She stretched her lips together tightly.
“If you want to talk about something, shoot,” I said.
“I don’t need to talk about anything.”
This was working great. I wanted to hug Suzy. “It up to you, Mom. I can talk about anything you want to talk about.” I worked the potato peeler on one side of a potato.
“Actually, there is something I want to say. I want to thank you, Colette, for recommending Jake. He’s quite the worker.” My mom looked r
ight at me.
I continued working on the potato. I turned it over and used the peeler on the other side. The potato skin was flying all over the sink. I didn’t respond right away because I couldn’t think of anything to say. I wished I hadn’t recommended him. “Yeah, he’s okay,” I finally said.
“Anything else about him?”
“No.”
“Dad and I think he’s so polite.” My mom emphasized so. “Always saying please and thank you.”
I didn’t want to talk about Jake at all. Maybe my mom knew that. Hmm. “Oh yes, he is, Mom. He even says please and thank you to me. I think that’s very unusual.”
“Yes. Dad and I think so too. Very unusual.” She put the pork chops in the pan. “What else do you like about him?”
“I don’t know.”
“Something wrong, Colette?”
“No, I’m enjoying helping you fix dinner. I’m learning a lot.”
“I’m so glad about that. Maybe you can take over some of the cooking in the future.”
This was not going the way I planned. I was not about to cook for the family. I did enough work. I did dishes every night but Sunday. I worked every other Saturday at the store. I babysat. And my homework was every single night in at least one or two subjects, maybe more. Maybe I shouldn’t help my mom in the kitchen. But then I couldn’t put Suzy’s idea into action. Suzy said her mom got sick of her quickly. “Maybe. Sure, Mom. Just what I was thinking.”
“Really?”
“Really.”
“Well, since you’re so into cooking, you can get the asparagus ready. Wash it first and then just break the stalks.”
This was going to be a long three weeks. I didn’t even like asparagus much less care how it was fixed. “Sure, Mom. Where are they?”
“In the refrigerator.”
Our refrigerator was in the back hall, not in the kitchen. So I could get away from my mom for a minute. I walked over to the refrigerator and stood behind the door. I had to think about my strategy. Usually I was at softball practice at this time. When I came home dinner was served. I wondered what they were doing at practice.
I brought the asparagus into the kitchen.
“Perfect,” my mom said. “You’re being such a help. I feel like hugging you.” She put her arm around my shoulder and squeezed. “One thing I can see is that we’re going to become best buddies.”
I didn’t move. Didn’t she remember she had grounded me for three weeks?
“In fact, this grounding may turn out to be good for our relationship. Who would’ve guessed?” My mom turned the pork chops, wiped her hands on her apron, and smiled wider than I’d ever seen her smile.
Plan A and plan B weren’t working. I needed a plan C. “Mom, I need to concentrate on the asparagus. I can’t talk right now.”
“Tell me when you think you can talk.” She whistled as she worked at the stove.
At dinner, my mom and dad were so chatty and nice, it was sickening. They had obviously talked to each other. I lost track of what they were talking about but it sure sounded happy. They were laughing away.
“Don’t you think so, Colette?” My dad asked.
“What?”
“Your mother told me that you want to do some cooking. I think that’s a great idea. Don’t you?”
“Of course, I do. I was fixing asparagus, wasn’t I?” Gramps was looking back and forth between my dad and me. I got the feeling the day before that Gramps was on my side but he would never say anything in front of me to my mom or dad. He said it was none of his business.
“I can’t wait until tomorrow,” my mom said.
“Oh, neither can I,” I said.
Chapter Twenty
Secrets Can be a Burden
Suzy and I met for lunch. “Okay, give,” she said, “what happened yesterday?”
“I used your idea and became my mom’s little shadow.”
“And?”
“And she became nervous to begin with and then I think she realized what I was doing.”
“Your mom is smart.”
“She is. She started talking about how much she loved me helping her in the kitchen and how our relationship was going to be stronger. Then she hugged me and said maybe I could start cooking for the family.”
“Oh, boy. Tell me more.”
“I peeled potatoes, snapped asparagus stalks, brought food to the table, did the dishes, and then sat in the living room with Gramps while I did my homework.”
Suzy laughed. “I feel sorry for you.”
“I have to say that I was really tired. I was in bed by nine o’clock.”
“Can you talk on the phone?”
“They didn’t say anything about the phone. But I can only talk for a half hour at a time.”
“Here’s my idea. You can call me when you get tired of cooking or talking with your mom. I’ll try to think of a new strategy.”
“Okay. I might need to give you a call.” I got up from the table. “See you later.”
I rode my bike to school since the weather was so perfect now. My books and folders were in a plastic bag in the rear basket. Today I took a long way home and didn’t hurry; I felt free. I resisted going to the ball field behind the school because I would have started practicing, believe me.
Our garage was behind the house in an alley. I parked my bike in the garage in its spot off to the side and walked up to the house. Gramps was reading in his favorite chair in the sunroom. I walked in. “Hi, Gramps.”
Gramps put the book down and motioned to a chair for me. “Sit down,” he said. “How was school today?”
“It was okay.”
“You’re winding down for the year. Summer vacation is coming up.”
“I can’t wait.”
“What are you going to do this summer?”
“I don’t know, Gramps. I don’t have any plans. I’m not old enough for driver’s training so I guess I’ll do nothing all summer.”
“Softball?”
“Oh, yeah. I’ll play softball.” There was something about sitting with Gramps that always lifted my spirits. I started thinking about playing softball in the summer and how great it was going to be.
“Good. I love going to your games.”
“I know. So do Aunt Florence and Rosie.” I thought of something. “Say, Gramps, since you love the games so much, maybe you could talk to Mom and Dad about my grounding.”
“I’m not going to interfere.”
“I don’t look at it that way. It’s just giving your opinion.” Gramps didn’t respond. His hands were on his lap.
“I remember you telling me that I should be comfortable enough at home to give my opinion. Even if I disagreed with everybody.”
“Bella, you are really something.” Bella was Gramp’s nickname for me. It meant beautiful in Italian.
“Well, maybe you disagree with Mom and Dad on their really unfair punishment. I think you should voice that.”
“One of the reasons we get along so well in the house is because I don’t interfere. If I did, maybe your parents would want to move to their own place.”
“I see what you mean. But maybe I could just stay with you after they move.”
“Bella, Bella.”
“It’s just my opinion, Gramps.”
“You are a very funny girl. Come here and give me a hug.”
I did because that was one of my favorite things to do.
“Colette, are you around?” My mom stood in the doorway. “I’ve been waiting in the kitchen for you. I need help.”
I wondered how she had done it all those years without me. “I hope you don’t have potatoes and asparagus again.”
“No, we’re having more of a summer meal because it’s warm. I’m making chicken salad. I need celery and onions cut up.”
Great. The more I cut up onions, the more I cried. I went out to the kitchen. My mom was already frying chicken breasts. She had water on the stove for the macaroni. The celery and one big onion waited on
the table for me. My mom showed me how to wash, break off the celery stalks, and then cut the celery into bite-sized pieces. And she wanted the onion diced. So that’s what we talked about; celery and onions.
After we exhausted the subject of how to prepare chicken salad, my mom talked about retiring from St. Anastasia’s. She had been there for so long, it wasn’t the same without me there, my dad needed help, the store was busier than ever, they had plans to make the store bigger, and they needed to hire another person. I didn’t have to say a word other than “Mmm, Hmm” and “I see what you mean.”
There was no mention of Jake or my grounding. So the conversation was pleasant enough even though my mom was doing all the talking. This is the way the week went with me listening to my mom going back and forth about leaving her job at St. Anastasia’s and both of us avoiding the subject of my grounding.
Suzy questioned me every day at lunch. “How’s it going?” She would ask. “Is your mom sick of you yet?”
“Actually, I think my mom enjoys having me in the kitchen cutting up vegetables and anything else she comes up with.” I said.
By the end of the week, I have to say, I really didn’t know how my mom made such a good meal every day. She worked all day and then worked again in the kitchen. I mean, between the slicing and dicing, boiling water for this or that, making sure the oven was on or something frying in the frying pan, the meal came together. We had vegetables with every meal and some kind of bread like muffins or cornbread or rolls. And everything had to be done at the same time. Of course, I didn’t tell my mom that I was amazed how she put it all together but I was.
At lunch, Laurie Zastrow asked me when I was coming back to play softball. I said, “Hopefully, soon.”
Suzy told me that everyone on the team wondered why I wasn’t there and if I was sick. “I didn’t tell them that you were grounded because I didn’t want everybody making up stories about what you had done,” Suzy said.
“Thanks, Suzy,” I said. “I appreciate it.” I knew she was dying to ask me again what the story was but she didn’t. I guess I appreciated that too. “I’m in school so they know I’m not sick.” I didn’t know exactly what my mom told the coach.
It Starts With a Lie Page 8