The Learning Curves Omnibus

by Ceillie Simkiss

  Several cold flakes hit her tongue, melting instantly. She opened her own eyes to find Elena with her phone out catching the moment on video.

  “Now who’s the creep?” Elena just laughed her deep belly laugh.

  “I’m sorry, I couldn’t resist. You were too pretty in the snow, especially in that bright red coat. Can I post this on Insta?”

  Cora rolled her eyes.

  “Am I cute in it?”

  “You’re always cute.”

  “Then yes, you can post it on Insta and tag me in it,” Cora acquiesced. “As long as you let me get one of you.”

  “Do y’all want me to get a picture of you two together?”

  They both turned, to find a heavy, dark-skinned Black woman looking at them expectantly, with a large camera in hand.

  “You mean us?” Cora asked.

  “Yeah. Y’all are real cute! Plus I work for The Carolinian, and we wanted to get some snow pictures for this week’s edition.”

  They exchanged glances and shrugged.

  “Go for it! Do you want us to do anything in particular?”

  The woman shrugged and shifted her camera to her eye.

  “I thought the dancing you were doing was really pretty. We don’t do posed shots, but if y’all wanted to dance in the snow, I wouldn’t say no to the pictures.”

  Cora fidgeted nervously and Elena flashed the photographer a grin, holding out a hand to Cora.

  “My lady?”

  Cora took her hand with a small giggle, and Elena wrapped her up in her arms.

  “Is this okay?” she whispered. Cora nodded.

  “This is good. I’m not cold anymore!” Elena started to waltz, counting to three steps before turning, with Cora in step.

  “You wouldn’t be cold if you were wearing a hat, you know.”

  Cora wrinkled her nose at Elena, smiling at the same time. She could hear the reporter’s camera taking pictures rapidly behind them.

  “Hats make my hair not cute, and also make me look like a two-year-old. I do not want to look like an ugly two-year-old!”

  Elena laughed, tilting her head back slightly.

  “No one would ever mistake you for an ugly two-year-old, Cora. Can I twirl you?”

  Cora felt the heat rise to her cheeks, tinting them red in a way that had nothing to do with the cold. She nodded again, and Elena twirled her around in the snow. It was like there was nothing around them but thick, swirling snowflakes.

  Cora had to resist the urge to kiss her as she went under the taller woman’s arm. No way was she going to do that for the first time without permission, let alone in front of a newspaper photographer. As she wrapped her arm back around Elena’s waist, bringing them closer together, the photographer stopped taking pictures and interrupted them.

  “Oh, my god. You two are just the cutest couple I’ve ever seen,” the photographer said. “I think I’ve got plenty of pictures, and I don’t want to interrupt, but I wanted to get your numbers so I could send you some of these.”

  Glancing at Elena, Cora dropped her arm from her waist and turned towards the Black woman. She didn’t separate herself from where she leaned against Elena’s stomach and chest. She pulled her phone out of her coat pocket and handed it to the photographer. Elena looked over the top of her head at the photographer

  “Oh, I really want these pictures. Punch your number in and I’ll text you. I can get them to Elena.”

  The photographer did as she was told and handed the phone back before sliding her camera into her purse.

  “Thanks so much, really. Y’all really are just adorable together. It’ll make a great centerpiece on the front page!”

  She sauntered off without waiting for a response, and they both looked at each other askance.

  “Front page?” they said together.

  “Well, I guess that’ll be a nice way to come out to the entire school. Good thing we weren’t hiding it before?”

  “I guess so! Plus, how many people actually read the campus newspaper anyway?”

  “It can’t be that many,” Elena decided. “You ready to go inside?”

  “Yeah, I guess. We do need to finish our case reviews,” Cora sighed. Elena wrapped an arm around her shoulders, and they walked back into the building together.

  Chapter 4

  The next week, the brass of the theme song from The Incredibles blasted from Cora’s phone, making her jump. She ran over to her desk and started tossing the Diet Coke cans that had been strewn across its surface into her wire trash can. The desk didn’t look big enough to lose anything on, but her messiness had proved it was possible.

  “I need you to come over.” Elena’s deep voice sounded panicked as soon as Cora unearthed the phone from the desk in her apartment. “I need you to bring the ice cream drumsticks, coconut milk, cream of coconut, evaporated milk and sweetened condensed milk. Oh! And rum!”

  “That’s a weird combination, but okay,” Cora took the order in stride, but stood from where she sat. “I got questions.”

  “That’s fine, cause I’ve got answers.”

  “Let me get a pen,” Cora said, barely covering a laugh.

  “What flavor ice cream for the drumsticks? Do you have a preference for a brand of coconut milk? How much of each?”

  Cora rummaged in the canvas tote she used as a purse until she found her reporter’s notebook and a pink rollerball pen.

  “Okay, I’m set. Starting with the ice cream?”

  “One box of drumsticks, just the vanilla dipped in chocolate will be perfect.” Cora could tell that with each word she spoke, Elena was calming down a little bit. Her voice softened as she listed the items. “You’ll find all of the other ingredients in the international foods section - Goya’s the brand you want. You ready for amounts?”

  “I am…now,” Cora said hurriedly, her pen at the ready knowing she would need to write fast.

  “Okay - four twelve-ounce cans of evaporated milk; two fifteen-ounce cans of cream of coconut; two cans of coconut milk, I think like thirteen-ounce cans?; and then one can of sweetened condensed milk. You got all that?” Elena paused between each item as if she knew that Cora couldn’t write as fast as she could speak, especially while holding her phone in her other hand.

  Cora read back the list item by item, waiting for her friend’s sí of confirmation before she moved on.

  “Okay, and I’m guessing white rum? Do you need a flavored rum?”

  “Nope, just plain old white rum. It doesn’t even need to be expensive,” Elena’s voice sounded like she was incredibly overwhelmed, though she was calmer than when the conversation first started, which was a relief for Cora. “Just bring me the rum, please!”

  “Aye, aye, captain,” Cora clicked the pen closed and tossed it in her purse.”I’ll be there in 45 minutes, and will call you if there are any issues. Good?”

  “God bless you and get you here as fast as possible. Door’s unlocked, just let yourself in. I gotta go! Bye!”

  The phone beeped to say the call had ended and Cora blinked at it, still a little confused about what she’d find when she reached her friend’s apartment. Shaking her head, she grabbed her purse and keys and walked out into the common room.

  After shutting and locking her door, she pulled the dry erase marker out of its wall bracket and scribbled a note on the whiteboard that hung on the door

  Headed to Elena’s. Be back tomorrow — CM

  Cora whipped into the parking lot, having sped from the grocery store to the apartment complex to bring the emergency groceries to her friend.

  She had no idea what the emergency was, or why Elena needed all of this stuff, but Elena wasn’t unreasonable ninety percent of the time. She wouldn’t have called in a panic if she didn’t need it.

  Getting out of the car, Cora shot her friend a text that simply said “Here” and popped open the trunk of her shiny green hatchback. She grabbed the three bags and slung them over one arm. She bumped the trunk shut with her hip, slipped her phone
into her back pocket and transferred one of the bags to her other arm.

  She walked through the complex’s breezeway to Elena’s ground floor apartment and found the heavy bass music of a pop song blaring from the normally near-silent apartment. Twisting the handle of the unlocked door open, she slid into the apartment unnoticed.

  Four people were dancing around Elena’s normally spotless living room. The lights were off, and the lamps seemed to have been replaced with strobe lights, which showed that the furniture had been pushed up against the walls.

  It turned the living room into a club scene. Elena would have hated it if she’d been in the room.

  Cora took a second glance around the room. Elena definitely wasn’t in the room, but she could see where someone’s iPhone was plugged into an auxiliary cord on the counter. She walked over and set the bags on the ground. Picking up the phone, she paused the music. It took the dancers a second to notice what had happened.

  “¡Oye! ¿Porqué apagaste la música?” The tallest one screeched. Cora couldn’t make out any defining features on any of them in the pulsing light of the room. It was making her head swim.

  “Someone turn off the strobe lights before you give me a stroke,” she commanded, and one of the dancers scrambled to do as they were told. The room plunged into darkness. “That’s better. Now where the hell is Elena?”

  “Back here!” She heard a yell that made her jump in the otherwise silent room and startled all of the others judging by the surprise on their faces. “I’m not coming out! Can you put the ice cream in the freezer?”

  “Uh... Okay?” Cora said with confusion. The four started whispering to each other where they’d returned to huddle in the middle of the room. She slid the ice cream into the freezer and put everything else in the fridge for good measure.

  “Can we turn the music back on now?” One of them asked in a whiny tone that was the perfect stereotype for a teenage girl.

  “No! Is this your house?!” Cora asked, squinting at them, and flipping on the kitchen lights. “I know Elena didn’t give you permission for this if she’s hiding in her bedroom in her own apartment.”

  The four people in shorts and crop tops blinked guiltily at each other.

  “I thought so. Put this room back together and act like your mothers raised you right,” she said disapprovingly. The four leggy creatures in the middle of the room sprung to Cora’s command as she stalked towards Elena’s bedroom.

  “Are they still out there?” Elena asked quietly when Cora slid the door shut behind her. Cora had never seen a look of panic on her face like this.

  Cora nodded, and Elena visibly deflated. “I hoped they’d leave when you got here.”

  Elena tipped forward from where she sat on her bed, face planting onto it with a groan that sounded remarkably like “I hate teenagers.”

  “I take it those are your cousins?” Cora asked, getting what she thought was a nod in response. “I thought you only had two of them staying with you.”

  Elena lifted her head slightly and mournfully replied, “They brought friends.” She then let her head drop back into the grey pin-tucked comforter.

  “Okay, well your cousins and their friends are putting your living room back together now,” Cora said softly, sitting down beside her friend on the bed. “Now, what can we do for you?”

  “Wanna help me make really rummy coquitos?” Elena said, a slight whine to her voice that made Cora’s heart stutter a little.

  “Sure thing, honey.” Cora smiled. Standing, she held a hand out to her friend, who took it with a tired smile of her own. “But first we have to get rid of the teenagers. Call your mom and see if she can take them for the evening before I murder them since you’re not in any kind of shape to get rid of them.”

  A few minutes later, the women walked into the living room together, lightly holding hands, to find the teenagers pushing the last armchair back into place.

  “Oh, ¿esa es tu novia?” The tallest girl said in a surprised voice. Elena and Cora looked at each other with a startled expression, and simultaneously let go of each other’s hand.

  “I’m not her girlfriend,” Cora said quickly, hoping they didn’t notice the blush on her face. “Just a good friend. And I’m glad y’all put this room back together so quickly.”

  “We only shoved it off to the side so we could dance,” one of the other girls mumbled. “It’s not like we threw a rager in here.”

  “Who throws a party at someone else’s house without permission?” Cora glared at the girl, and she shut up immediately. “You’ve stressed Elena out so bad she was hiding in her room, and that’s not okay. You all owe her an apology before her mother comes to pick y’all up. You hear me?”

  “Tía Maria is coming? Why?” The girl looked genuinely confused, and Elena rolled her eyes before walking back into her bedroom and shutting the door, muttering to herself.

  “You’re her cousins, you should know she hates loud music. I’ve known her for three months and I could have told you that,” Cora snapped and shook her head. “You are her guests and you took over her living room. Now, which two of you are cousins, and which are friends?”

  The tall girl who had mostly spoken in Spanish thus far glared at her, but answered after a moment.

  “I’m Adriana, and the one in pink is Camila.” Adriana pointed at the girl closest to the wall, who gave Cora a small wave. “And these are our friends Jennifer and Katie. They live here.”

  The two girls in the middle glanced between Cora and Adriana, clearly confused as to what was going on.

  “Um, is your aunt picking us up, too, Adri?” The one Adriana had pointed out as Katie said hesitantly. “Cause, um, we can just go? Jen drove.”

  “No, you don’t want to go to Tía’s house. It’s boring.” Adriana rolled her eyes, then stopped and glanced at her sister. “I mean, you can if you want. There’s nothing to do there, either.”

  Camila gave her sister a small smile, and Adriana relaxed a little bit. Cora could tell that Camila was more like Elena than Adriana, from her slightly anxious body language.

  “Nah, we’ll go. We’ll hook up tomorrow, okay?” Jennifer looked like there was nothing she’d like better than to run away, and she intended to do just that. Cora couldn’t keep herself from smiling wickedly as she realized how uncomfortable everyone in this apartment was.

  Good, she thought. Be uncomfortable, like you made Elena, you little jerks.

  Jennifer and Katie made their way out as quickly as possible. A few moments passed where the girls all stared at one another, seeming too awkward to say anything out loud. Then a loud knocking sounded through the apartment, and the front door swung open.

  A woman who matched Elena from head to toe swept in. Unlike Elena, this woman kept her dark hair short in a cloud around her head and wore a black maxi dress that Elena would have looked stunning in. Cora recognized her instantly as Elena’s mother.

  Maria Mendez had a presence that could not be hidden. Between her towering stance and the glare in her eyes, no one could have hidden from her at that moment. Even bold Adriana wilted before her aunt’s fierce glare.

  The heavyset woman lit into them in Spanish, speaking too quickly for Cora to keep up. They gathered up their things and walked out the open door that Maria was pointing to. Maria waved at Cora, and then nearly sprinted out after them, leaving the door open.

  “Thank God they’re gone,” Elena breathed as she shut the door and locked it behind her cousins. She muttered what sounded like a prayer under her breath before she turned away from it to find Cora sitting on the counter next to the stove with a bottle of rum the size of her head in her lap.

  “Amen to that. Now, what’s this bottle of rum for?” Cora grinned evilly, and Elena couldn’t help but grin back.

  “It’s not for drinking straight, you heathen!” Elena laughed and took the large bottle from her friend. That’s how you destroy your liver.”

  Cora slid off the counter and hopped over to the fri
dge where she had stashed all of the coconut products.

  She laughed as she noticed that Elena had a copy of The Carolinian on the fridge that showed them twirling together. She had to admit it was a good picture, but it hadn’t gotten nearly as much attention from their classmates as they’d expected it to.

  “So what are we making?” Cora asked as she pulled everything she’d bought out. “This looks like it could make eggnog if it was coconut flavored.”

  “You’re not wrong,” Elena admitted as she pulled out her blender. “It’s basically coconut eggnog - which is much more delicious than regular eggnog. We call it coquito, and tonight, we’re making it strong.”

  “Hell yeah!” Cora exclaimed. “First, did I get everything right from the store? I don’t wanna mess it up.”

  Elena turned to look at what Cora had bought and nodded at each item.

  “Looks like all we need from the cupboard is cinnamon, vanilla extract…” She dove into the cabinet where she kept her spices, pulling out the items she’d named. “And the good glasses. Can you grab those?”

  Cora walked over to the cabinet she’d pointed to. Looking for the glasses with the weighted bottoms that she knew Elena was talking about, she started to laugh. Elena looked over at her and joined her laughing. There was no way Cora, who was just over five feet tall, could reach the glasses off of the top shelf of the cupboard.

  “Well, all right then, shorty,” Elena grinned at her friend, who had stopped laughing and was now pouting playfully. “I guess I’ll grab those.”

  “If only I had orangutan arms like my brothers!” Cora lamented dramatically. “Alas, I have wimpy girl arms that are the right length for my body. This is my fatal flaw.”

  “Orangutan arms?” Elena said, sounding bemused. “You just pulled that phrase out of your ass? You can use your ‘wimpy girl arms’ to open up all the cans. The can opener is in the thing.”

  Cora pouted at her for a moment longer, then walked over and did as she was told, as she had learned was the best option in the kitchen. Elena brought the pint-sized glasses over to where they had everything set up and looked over the ingredients.