"Yester. I mean yes. No, I mean Chester!" He finally, said his name.
Did she understand me?! He questioned himself. She understood me! She knew what he was trying to say! He tried answering back, but the words did not come out of his mouth. They just were not cooperating with him. Things never went Chester's way, but this time Lady Luck was on his side.
(Chester's Mom POV)
Chester, his Mom, and his Dad were traveling for him to compete, in the next archery contest. His mom was a helicopter mom and always hovered.
If his mom was a super hero her catch phrase would be, "There's no such thing as spoiled, just overly loved."
She always called him her boy. From her analysis her boy, did better in the competitions, when the archers did not need to track and go seek for the prey.
He was only good at targeting them. He had to focus in one spot. Chester could time the seconds it takes for an animal to come into his line of fire. It was always a clean, kill shot.
From their pass knowledge, the archers stood in a row. They were spaced, 5 feet a part from each other. This was done to avoid tampering with any equipment the competitors have.
Each of them had to face rows of lateral fences, that were various heights. This reminded her of games at the carnival. When carnival goers played, the pay to play, rubber duck shooting game at the game booths. Since, this was a competition for meat, it would make sense to have the difficulty rise.
While trying to kill time, she was relating the competition to different games. Each row was worth a different a mount of points for each kill. This reminded her of darts, because each section was worth a different a mount of points. The animals were released into the stadium row by row. It seemed inhumane, but this ensured the kill would be instant and the meat would be consumed.
The archers each had different colored arrows with flags on it. The flags reminded her of ones that would be on flag football players. At the end of each contest, the kills would be counted and given to the archer with the highest number of points.
Hopefully, that would be her son. They were running low on meat. They shared his winnings with beloved family and friends. This was definitely a power move, with hidden incentives. If her family was unable to obtain meat in the future, she was hoping to have built a network of supporters that would look out for her family too.
They decided to stop the hover craft and refuel. The Hover craft took 30 minutes to refuel. This use to bother her, but after a while she got use to looking on the brighter side of things. She thought of only the positives. She could take her time going to use the bathroom. She could have more time to choose what to eat.
Standing near Chester's dad, She heard Chester yawn. She was waiting to see if the manners She taught him, would kick in. Chester's mom thought, she had failed. There was no excuse me. No pardon me. Just him yawning and stretching his arms in the air.
She continued watching him. She saw him having a coughing attack, after smelling his own arm pits. She thought, she must be raising a barbarian. She heard laughing, not too far from where he was standing. It was coming from the jalapeño stand.
It had an abundance of jalapeño everything, because of this, she nicknamed the lady selling it, jalapeño girl.
She could see the jalapeño girl was covering her mouth, trying not to laugh at her son. The girl seemed a little on the younger side. Maybe she was in her early 20s? Could her son be interested? This was it. His chance at a girlfriend. Maybe even a wife?" She analyzed. My boy started to walk over.
Even thought she calls him her boy, he's 30 years old. To save money and help their kids it became normal for the unwed to stay with their parents. It benefited the parents and children equally. The parents would charge room rent and have peace of mind on the whereabouts of their kids. The kids would be able to save money and not struggle to get by. They would be financially stable when the time came, for them to leave the nest. Chester's mom felt that until the time came when her son would find a life partner, she was still going to call him, her boy.
Chester looked like he was about to short circuit. She could see him rubbing his hands on his pants. Did he forget to wash his hands? Does he have dust on them, from the puffs he was eating? Why is he doing that? Chester and Jalapeño girl locked eyes. That's a good sign, maybe she's interested in him too, she thought. Chester then tried to casually run his hand through his hair, but ended up just stabbing his eye with his fingers.
"Ah!" He shouted, while squinting.
Quietly laughing, she uttered, "Oh no, if I'm going to be a grandma, I need to help him."
Jalapeño girl started laughing hysterically. He might not have blown his shot. What if she has a thing for goof balls like her son?Chester, just caught wind, that his mom was watching.
Chester's mom also noted, that he made the realization she was monitoring the situation. She was grinning to avoid laughing, while walking towards him and the stand.
"What is your best selling item, customer favorite?" She asked.
"Our pickled jalapeños are the best seller. Our fried jalapeños, stuffed with cream cheese, are a close second. " jalapeño girl disclosed.
"Can we get 10 of the deep fried, stuffed jalapeños? Also, can you hand them to him right there, my son Chester, when they are ready." She ordered.
"They will be done in a couple minutes." Jalapeño girl replied.
She went to nudge Chester. Chester went over to grab the hot order of fried jalapeños.
He opened his mouth to start with his pick up line, "Thank you! Diarrhea! Runs! Name!"
Chester just hung his head down in defeat. He wasn't the smoothest guy around.
She felt sad at the situation. His mom desperately wanted to help him. A mother hurts when she sees her child in need of a helping hand, but she is unable to lend one without making him seem incompetent.
But then to her dismay, without missing a beat Jalapeño girl smiled and said, "Your welcome! Maybe Diarrhea! Walk! Ino, what's your name?"
Chester lit up, "Yester. I mean yes. No, I mean Chester!"
That's when Chester's Mom knew, Jalapeño girl was the one for him.
(Ino's POV)
Ino was taking inventory at one of her family's jalapeño farms. She was stacking crates of jalapeños to be shipped and sold at the farmer's market.
"Ino, I need you to help out at the stand today. I need more hands. It gets extra busy, because we decided to flavor, make, and sell varieties of jalapeños." Ino's mom explained.