Spicy smell tickled my nostril. Sweet-scented fumes surrounded me. My tears kept appearing. It wasn't a nice choice to help slice onions next to someone who was cooking.
We would make a good menu for dinner tonight. All main ingredients were well prepared, pork ribs, tomatoes, garlic, and mushrooms.
I kept peeling onions. The next was garlic. I chopped them into small pieces and collected those in a small bowl. Then the difficult part, was pepper. It wasn't my skill to cut the bell pepper.
Amanda trimmed the pork ribs. She looked easy on it. She really had much knowledge of cooking. As a homemaker, she could receive very high appreciation.
Caroline made everything easier. She cleaned the mushrooms and cut them together with tomatoes. She helped us prepare dinner, even though we only invited her to join us for the dinner.
Only three people were here, but this kitchen heated up with strong power. Everyone was busy. Amanda baked the meat. Caroline sautéed vegetables. I wiped cutlery and poured orange water into several glasses. We spent almost twenty-five minutes preparing the dinner.
The clock showed 6.55 pm. The dinner menu was ready with the drinks. Ryu, Lucy, and Will showed up. We all sat on the chair encircling the food.
"How about Uncle Steven?" Lucy enquired. "Don't we have to wait for him?"
"He might not join us," I said.
It was still woolly. Somehow, I could predict through this context that Uncle Steven wouldn't join us for dinner again today.
"Let's pray," Amanda demanded.
The atmosphere turned mute. All people closed their eyes. We filled our hearts with blessing phrases. We were grateful to be able to get food rarely found.
A simple prayer had been done. I started cutting the meat and distributed every slice to each plate evenly. We were joyous to eat this food.
The food was so tasty. The texture of the meat was soft, not like the common one we ate before. Its fiber pounded my tooth and gum. The grease smeared my tongue. It was very juicy. This sure was premium pork; hard to obtain and it had a high price. Other than that, the tomatoes were great too. Those were very shiny when they were placed on a separate plate. It still had nice sweetness inside its sourness. Every bite created a pleasant coolness in this comfort food. This was the best menu ever made in this house.
Sound of a knocking door appeared. It was on the back door, exactly behind this room. It surprised everyone.
We stopped, except Lucy, and gazed to the door. It slowly opened. A man who was holding an opened bottle of beer stood there watching us with a big sneer. Our shocked feeling didn't recede, though we knew he was Uncle Steven. The matter was we never expected he would be here.
"Anything left for me?" asked Uncle Steven.
No one replied to him, apart from Caroline who greeted him. It became quiet for a moment.
"Can I join you all?" Uncle Steven requested.
"Of course, Dad," said Amanda.
Uncle Steven was in stitches. He entered and came to us.
Amanda got up. She went to take another chair and cutlery for him. Uncle Steven sat and placed his bottle on the table. Amanda took a seat back. Both of them didn't show any unusual mien.
This happened once in a blue moon. It was the fourth time Uncle Steven joined us for dinner, excluding having a meal in other people's houses such as Mr. Cleame. It was still countable with fingers.
Uncle Steven sliced the pork and put the chunks on his plate. His meat portion was the tubbiest.
We continued eating. The beginning was indeed awkward, especially for Caroline. But after a few minutes, we were able to share stories and laughter with everyone. We enjoyed this more than before Uncle Steven was here. He succeeded to put extra amusing seasoning like jokes in this dining room.
Fifteen minutes had passed. We finished our food. Only a little sauce stain was left on the plates. Ryu, Lucy, and Will left this place. As usual, they went to the living room. Amanda removed all the plates, forks, knives, and glasses from the table. Caroline helped her. They washed the dishes together. Uncle Steven and I remained sitting here while drinking beer, which he brought home.
"So, how's your day?" asked Uncle Steven.
"It's been good," I said. "You?"
"What do you think?"
"Well, I see something different. You're here. It's very unusual."
Uncle Steven cackled. He shook his head.
"Was Tony in the bar?" I questioned.
"He was. He's always in there."
"So, is there any special reason why you joined us for dinner today? Don't tell me it's because you saw the pork."
Uncle Steven chuckled, "You could say that. But, it's not the main reason. Just think of it as a celebration. We're family. I always appreciate all you've done. And I know, you didn't buy anything. You stole that food."
I froze in all of sudden. I never expected Uncle Steven would know that. Amanda and Caroline also heard what he said. Their hands stopped moving. They let the tap water flow away. The smiley face of Uncle Steven died out. This room turned into stillness in a second.
"What? No! It's silly!" I denied.
"Don't pretend to be stupid," Uncle Steven rebuked with a small volume in his voice.
He kept staring at me. He attempted to read my mind. His eyes showed he wanted to solicit the truth. He was never as serious-minded as this before, yet it wasn't good.
This was in a tight spot. Giving the verity could be the best choice, or even the worst. It was really bewildering.
"I shouldn't tell this," Uncle Steven continued, "but I think this's the right time. Your father did the same thing and he died because of that."
I had goosebumps right away. I was speechless. His words contained fear that could make everyone in this room listen to him. Uncle Steven was the only one who knew much about my father, since he's his brother.
"Did officers arrest him?" I asked.
"No. He didn't end up in jail. His victim killed him. And, it wasn't included in any murder case. None of the police investigated it. And, no one knows who was the murderer."
I gulped. It shocked me with a mixture of trepidation and resentment. That was very unforgivable.
"I thought it had finished till that," Uncle Steven resumed. "But, it linked to your mother. She was shocked. She wasn't ready for the news. She died of overstress."
Every sentence he told blazed my mind. The story I used to believe was fake. Now, I understood about the death of my parents. They passed away in an unbelievable way. It was vile and awful.
Amanda and Caroline watched us. They placed the dishes in the sink. Their bodies didn't show any movement.
"Did you do something?" I asked.
"I hope I could do something," he answered. "But, I even had my own trouble."
"Trouble?"
"Yeah. Fiona and I... it was complicated."
Uncle Steven closed his eyes. He even had his own problem at that time. No one could do anything to him or my parents.
My breath sounded loud. This conversation and quietness contributed to this place.
I leered at Amanda. I tried to decide our next move thru the motion of eyes and lips. To admit my false could be the right way, since Uncle Steven had known what I'd done. Nothing could be concealed anymore.
Uncle Steven's face switched over out of the blue. He guffawed, "Just kidding!"
"What?" I spoke with a moron visage.
"You really look like your father," he joked. "Your face, your voice, you're exactly like him. Every time I accused him of a crime, he got scared like a chicken."
Uncle Steven laughed even louder. He hit the table. His eyes were full of tears.
It knocked me for six. Also, I believed I wasn't the only person in here who was very disappointed.
Uncle Steven apparently lied. His story was just nonsense. However, the good thing was he actually didn't have any idea about the stolen food.
I exhaled in deep and tried to regulate my breathing back to normal. I felt relieved. I just giggled to cover up anything.
"It's not funny, Dad!" Amanda scolded.
"Oh, c'mon!" Uncle Steven responded. "It's just a joke."
"But, your joke wasn't funny at all!" Amanda snapped.
"Calm down," Caroline soothed Amanda.
I could see a lot of dander filling Amanda's body. No doubt she would be so fuming. Uncle Steven had much drunk beer since this morning. It might be the one, which caused him to be like that, joking too much.
I looked at Amanda. I raised my left eyebrow three times.
Amanda lessened her rage. She took a deep breath and made herself calm. She continued washing the dishes with Caroline.
I was glad I didn't tell Uncle Steven the truth. I let everything pass just the way it was. Sometimes, moving too much can leave an unconscious imprint.
Uncle Steven finished the beer. He got up from the chairs. His face still looked happy.
"I'm worn out," he said. "Good night!"
Uncle Steven left us. He went upstairs and headed to his room.
I stood up and took an empty bottle and the glasses. I threw the bottle into a garbage can. I brought the empty glasses to Amanda. The dishes were almost done.
"Feel better?" I teased Amanda and Caroline.
"Much better when he left," said Amanda.
We chuckled at the same time. I agreed with Amanda, feeling good when Uncle Steven walked out from here. I bet Caroline also felt the same.
I put the glasses on the sink and helped them wash the remaining dishes. We spent around two minutes finishing all of this cleansing. We went to the living room together and joined the others.
Everyone watched TV. It broadcasted a good movie this night. Even though I missed a few early scenes, it didn't matter. At least, we could gather and share laughter at home every night.
The movie ran for one and a half hours. It was over with a good ending.
"Okay. Bedtime!" said Amanda.
Ryu, Lucy, and Will got up. They went upstairs together and walked to their rooms.
Amanda turned off the TV. She picked up every trash on the table. Caroline helped me tidy up the sofa. She also helped remove cracked biscuits on the floor. She went home after everything was clean.
My eyes were getting weary. I yawned time after time. This was really a tiring day. I went upstairs after Amanda, plodded to my room, and laid on the bed straightaway.