Chapter 5 The Favor #2
She leans in and whispers, “Only crepes! I’m twenty-one and had to look up how to boil an egg the other day.”
I burst out laughing but stop when I realize she wasn’t joking.
She pouts and punches me lightly on my arm.
“Well, not how to cook them, but for how long. My mom never really liked to cook. My dad cooked a few things but never tried to show me or teach me. He worked a lot, so if we ever wanted a hot meal, we would scrape up enough money to order a pizza.” She lets out a sigh. “Kind of sad, I know.”
Rubbing my arm absentmindedly, it dawns on me; it has been a long time since someone touched me like this.
My mother clutches me for balance periodically, I bump shoulders with my father in the bakery, but a punch in arm, I can’t remember the last time.
I grin and mirror her, leaning toward her and whisper, “It depends. We’ve never ordered a pizza, and I’ve always wondered what it was like to have food delivered right to your door, especially pizza. ”
Veronica gapes at me. “Shit.” Oh no, she’s realizing I’m a complete freak.
I quickly add, “I’ve had pizza before. I buy a slice occasionally, on my way home from the bakery just never had one delivered.”
Veronica nods, looking relieved.
I can’t believe the stuff I’m sharing with her, but it seems so easy. I’m not sure what has changed, but I feel lighter and happier instead of hiding myself away.
We continue talking quietly, and I’m cleaning up the kitchen when I hear the apartment door open. I look at my watch, Veronica looks at her phone, and we both look at each other with the same where-did-the-time-go expression, and chuckle.
Jake steps into the kitchen, breathes deeply, and says, “Wow! Something smells delicious.”
“It was delicious.” Veronica jumps off her stool, gives Jake a quick hug, and heads down the hallway.
Jake gives me a surprised smile and says softly, “I haven’t seen her this relaxed in—” he pauses and frowns, “—like forever. What did you do?”
I look at him in alarm and blurt out, “We made nalesniki, that’s all.”
Jake cocks his head, clearly perplexed.
“Oh, Polish crepes, I mean,” I say in a rush. “There is extra, if you’re hungry.”
Jake straddles the stool Veronica just vacated and leans over the island to grab the plate, giving it a deep sniff. He proceeds to eat the two remaining nalesniki in record time. I try unsuccessfully not to stare while he eats.
He finishes and licks his fingers, then he looks up and notices me. I’m fidgeting with the towel, trying to finish tidying up the kitchen.
Standing, he states, “Those are amazing. How many did Veronica eat?”
“Two.”
Jake exclaims, “Incredible!” and continues, “I should have had you over days ago. I’ve been trying to get Veronica to eat something, anything, for days. She eats like a goddamn bird.”
I laugh and he raises his eyebrows.
“Birds eat constantly and have to consume half their body weight, so that expression really makes no sense,” I inform him.
Jake gives a low chuckle. “Oh really! Well, I’m just glad she ate something.” He reaches into his pants pocket and takes out a slim wallet, handing me two twenty-dollar bills.
I put up my hand in protest, “That’s too much, we just hung out.”
“Please take it, you got her to eat, you cooked it yourself, which saved me twenty bucks right there; I’ve been ordering anything and everything and then throwing most of it away.”
I hesitate and he reaches out and takes my hand and folds the bills into my palm, closing my fingers around them. I freeze at his warm touch.
“Really, thank you. Can you come again on Friday? I have classes Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, and I don’t want Vee to be alone.”
I nod my head and think, The money may be the only thing that stops my parents from forbidding me to do this again.
Walking quickly down the hallway, I look back as my hand reaches for the doorknob.
He’s poured himself a big glass of milk and is settling back down on the stool with some notebooks and papers spread out around him.
He’s completely forgotten me in these few minutes, while I will never forget this day for the rest of my life.
John Foster suggests taking mental pictures when you spot a bird if you don’t have a good camera to take an actual picture. You must remember the feel, the smell, and the look of where you spotted the bird, he writes. If you engage all five of your senses, the memory will be much clearer.
Snapping a mental picture of Jake sitting in his kitchen, he is totally absorbed in the papers in front of him. I will never smell nalesniki again without picturing him and remembering his hand on mine.
I attempt to swing open the door to my apartment with authority, but even to my ears, it sounds tentative, scared. I throw up a quick prayer, “Please God, let this work.”
Quickly surveying the kitchen, I see Mama and Papa are sitting at the kitchen table with their plates cleared, so I slide into my regular seat.
I don’t put my head down, as I normally would when I’m waiting for a lecture.
I look each of them in the eye and slide the forty dollars across the table figuring a preemptive strike may be my best course of action.
“Look: for two hours’ work, I got forty dollars, so I couldn’t say no.”
No need to tell them I said yes without having any clue what Jake would pay me. I continue hesitantly, “I’m just helping out a friend of Jake’s who wants to, er . . . learn to cook . . . I thought it was babysitting, but it turns out it’s cooking and stuff.”
And then it just starts flowing.
“You remember that nice girl?” I ask my father. “She’s going to get married soon and doesn’t know the first thing about cooking, so wants to learn. I guess Jake figured because of the bakery, I could help her.”
I cringe. I’ve never lied to my parents before.
It’s definitely breaking one of the commandments and an important one.
I’ve always honored my parents. But I feel I have my wish on my side and that gives me courage.
Clasping my hands tightly under the table, I hold my breath. It is now in God’s hands.
My father glances at my mother, and then they both glance at the forty dollars.
My mother slides a twenty back towards me and asks, “Well, what did you teach her?”
And just like that, my prayer is answered, without even a lecture.