Grandma walked slowly over to her recliner, a cloth chair with animal furs hanging over the back and with two pillows propped up for her lower back. She eased herself into the chair before motioning for Jessica to sit. Jessica walked cautiously into the room, eyes never leaving the pot-bellied stove. What her Grandma had just slid in there looked an awful lot like a bloody heart, and the sack she was holding in her hand looked like it'd been holding something wet in it.
"So," Grandma started, setting the sack on a small side table cluttered with mail and several statues of Buddha. "I imagine you're a little worried about what you just saw?"
Jessica could only nod. She'd heard rumors of Satanic Cults all springing up all over the United States. Who hadn't? They were rumored to sacrifice children and feast on their meat, all while proclaiming their eternal souls to the Dark Prince himself. Was her Grandma a member of such a cult? Jessica could hardly think as she started to smell the acrid stench of unseasoned meat cooking, akin to old venison over a campfire.
"That was the heart of a chicken," Grandma explained, folding her hands in her lap over her dark slacks. "They're supposedly full of vitamins and nutrients, and they're small enough that if I cook it until it's the equivalent of a well-done steak they're like beef jerky. I eat one a week, after visiting the butchers on base."
"Why?" Jessica asked, slightly revolted at the idea.
Grandma's shoulder slumped. "I'm getting old Jessica, and I need all the help I can get in my twilight years. The nutrients in the heart muscle are supposed to fight off certain diseases."
"Like Cancer?" Jessica blurted out before freezing her facial features.
Grandma's face became a mask as she slowly nodded. "Yes, Cancer is a fine example… but I was referring to the cold or the flu. I can't afford to have any kind of illness right now in life. That's why I'm trying to give my immune system a boost, you see."
Jessica looked her Grandma over, taking in everything she saw. Slumped shoulders and a slight hunch to her back, with heavy lines on her face framed by silver hair, all hidden behind large glasses. Her hands were knobby from arthritis, and her arms bore a multitude of liver spots. She looked thin, almost irregularly so. Jessica looked back at the stove, which was crackling happily from the fire raging within. Her tea kettle sat by the stove, probably empty, and a small stone gargoyle sat on a small space in front of the grate of the stove. That unnerved Jessica to an extent, but when she looked at her Grandma she just smiled weakly.
"Yeah," she said. "I guess I can see that."
"Now please don't tell Scottie, as he'd blab to everyone what a weird Grandma he has," Grandma said with a hint of humor in her voice, a twitch of a smile gracing her features. "This is between you and I. Alright?"
"Alright," Jessica agreed.
Scottie wandered in from the kitchen, an apple in his hand with a bite already missing, idly chewing as he strolled up and sat in a plush chair next to Jessica. "What're you guys talking about?"
"Oh nothing," Jessica said before looking to Grandma. "She was just about to tell me what we can do around Austin for fun."
Grandma smiled before reaching to her mail-strewn side table, grabbing a folded newspaper. "I found several things we can do earlier last week. The local cinema is showing a horror block of movies this Wednesday that you two can go to. I'll drop you off with some spending money while I go about my errands with Hassid. And on Friday we have pumpkin carving at my church that I'd like to attend."
Scottie groaned. "I get enough church at home," he groused.
"And you'll get your fill while you're here," Grandma said cheerfully, flipping over the folded newspaper. "On Saturday, there's an independent film festival going on, and then Sunday we have church with a lunch at the Cracker Barrel afterward."
That perked Scottie up a little. Cracker Barrel had his favorite pie in the whole world, a blueberry pie served hot with a scoop of vanilla bean ice cream on the side. He tried to get Grandma to take them there at every chance while visiting and she generally agreed and allowed them to eat out five or six times over the two-week vacation.
"That film festival sounds fun," Jessica commented.
"I like the idea of the horror movies!" Scottie said before thinking for a moment. "And Cracker Barrel. Like that too."
That earned chuckles from both Grandma and Jessica, the latter leaning over to swat at her brother. Grandma, on the other hand, laid the newspaper down and got to her feet.
"Let me get you two something to drink, I have the usual," Grandma offered, looking between her grandchildren.
"I'll take a coke," they chimed in unison.
"Okay, I have those in the refrigerator in the garage, I'll be right back." Grandma said before slowly walking through the television room and towards the garage. Jessica glanced over at the pot-bellied stove before shivering. Scottie got up and walked over to Grandma's chair to pick up the paper.
"What are you doing?" Jessica hissed.
"Just want to see what else they have going on, stuff that isn't Grandma-sanctioned," Scottie said, unfolding the paper and opening it with a snap. The front page was suddenly staring Jessica in the face, the eyes of an infant locked onto hers. Staring at the blown-up image, she read the caption.
"Jasper still missing?" Jessica read aloud.
"What?" Scottie asked, turning to look at the front of the paper. He stared at the article before passing it to Jessica. "Here, read if you want."
Jessica took the paper and skimmed the article. The boy had gone missing when in the nursery of the First Baptist Church of Austin, in between sermons. He was last seen when his mother breast fed him during the intermission, before leaving him with the nursery attendant who had been questioned thoroughly by the police. She'd stepped out for a cigarette break and hadn't even noticed the baby was gone until it was time to do a diaper check.
The door to the garage slammed shut, forcing Jessica to fold up the newspaper to its previous place, crossing over the wide area rug to place the paper back on the seat of Grandma's chair. She just sat back down in her seat as Grandma rounded the corner with two ice-cold bottles of coke.
As she passed them out, Jessica smiled as her Grandma spun a tale of her youth, and about how Coke used to be much cheaper. For the next hour, they listened to stories of the War and how Grandma had traveled everywhere with her husband, being stationed in Germany for four years then Okinawa for another six. The thoughts of what was being roasted in the pot-bellied stove were chased away from her head as she listened to the stories, laughing at some while crying at others. Scottie eventually yawned, indicating it was time for him to take a nap.
"You look tired as well Jessica, why don't both of you lie down?" Grandma offered. "I'll have some cookies ready for you both when you get up."
Scottie shot Jessica a greedy look, her earlier promise ringing true in her ears. "That sounds great Grandma, I could take a nap."
"Well off you go then," Grandma made shooing motions with her hands, sending them off to their bedroom for the next two-weeks, all to the scent of roasting meat wafting about in the oppressive heat of the small home.