Lunch break came in a flash, and Sophia was in the line of the cafeteria, holding her food tray and frowning at the strange food on display. Emma heard her complaining, "That is some strange-looking food!" Emma smirked because school food was known for being weird and sometimes having a strange taste, but hearing her friend say that was kind of funny.
Sophia saw how Emma was looking at her and asked, "What? It is weird! Just look at that! Is that meat or concrete? My father cooks way better-looking food than this!"
The cafeteria lady overheard her and said, "Perhaps he can come here one day and cook just for you, kid! What do you want? Choose, because I don't have all day!"
"I want something that won't kill me! Do you have something like that? Because I highly doubt you are going to eat the crap you are serving us!"
With a frown, the lady dropped the mashed potatoes and the stewed meat with gravy on the plate and said, "Eat up and shut up, kid! I already ate this, and I am feeling perfectly fine!"
While staring at the cafeteria lady with a blank face, Sophia answered, "You don't look alive to me, you know? I think you died because of this crap, and no one told you. You should go call someone to go bury your body somewhere before you start to smell. But really, you cooked this? Darn, you sure are a lousy cook! You get paid for this? And when was the last time a kid died because of your food?"
Before the cafeteria lady could answer, Emma dragged Sophia out of there and guided her to an empty table. As they sat, she said, "You sure are weird today, Sophia! Now you want to pick a fight with the cafeteria lady? I don't know why she didn't throw the soup spoon at you for what you said!"
Shouting while staring at the angry lady that was still in her spot in front of the food counter, Sophia answered, "She didn't, because she knows I am right! How the heck does she dare to give us this crap? My father can cook way better with his eyes closed, and one hand tied behind his back! Heck, I can do better than this without even trying!"
From the counter, the cafeteria lady shouted, "Maybe tomorrow you can come here and cook! I would like to see you doing better than me with the ingredients and the cooking space we have in the kitchen!"
After tasting the food, Sophia stood up and shouted back, "I will do just that, and then you are going to buy a few cooking books, attend some classes, and start to cook better! You should be ashamed of cooking like this! The potatoes need salt and some spices, and half of the meat is raw in the middle! Who gave you this job, anyway? No one tested to see if you could actually cook or what?"
"I am so going to like to see you trying to do better tomorrow, kid! It will be darn funny to watch you struggle!"
"Struggle to do what? Cook horribly like you? I couldn't cook this kind of crap even if I tried! Do you cook like this in your home? Why didn't you poison yourself yet? This tastes disgusting! How the heck are you allowed to serve kids this kind of crap? You should be ashamed of this, really!"
The cafeteria lady bit her lower lip. Not only because Sophia was making her angry, but because now a lot of students were also complaining and almost causing a riot. She served the next kid with a frown and without saying anything while the students laughed or mocked her cooking.
As for Emma, she was dumbfounded. Sophia used to be very quiet, and she never drew too much attention to herself, like she had been doing since morning when she entered the school bus.
She wasn't quite sure if she was proud of her friend or worried because she seemed to be losing her temper very easily, as if she were always angry, something she never was. Or at least she never seemed to be.
Sophia took the salt and pepper from the holder over the table and mixed the mashed potatoes, tasting them afterwards. She made a single nod and then started to cut the edges of the meat. She then took the raw meat from her plate and placed it on the food tray in a corner.
As she was eating, she said, "Was it that difficult to season this and let the meat cook for a little while longer? Just five more minutes! Five miserable minutes and the meat would be perfect! School has been fun so far, but eating here every single day is going to be torture if I have to eat crap like this! Seriously, how can anyone cook this bad?"
Emma said while trying to hold her laughter, "You know, I think you are too used to your father's cooking, and maybe that is why you are such a critic of other people's food."
While pointing at the raw meat on her tray, Sophia asked, "Critic? With that? There is meat that can be eaten slightly cooked, but that is completely raw! It is pink, and it has blood dripping! The kids are eating food like this daily? Worse, I was eating that until today every time I came to school? Because I don't remember eating something that raw!"
"It is veal! It is supposed to be slightly pink! Okay, I agree with you, it is way undercooked than it should be, but it isn't that bad!"
Emma spat the meat she was munching and said with a grimace, "Yeah, today is bad… Our school cook is not that good, but this seems to be bad on purpose…"
She quickly grabbed the salt and pepper and poured a bit over the mashed potatoes as she said, "And you are right about this as well. It needs salt and a bit of spice. Were you serious when you said that tomorrow you were going to the kitchen to cook? Because we have free time right before lunch hour, and you could do it."
"Yeah, I am going to show that woman how to cook properly. If my father saw this, he would have a seizure. He had a lot of trouble studying and learning how to cook for us ever since my mom died, and he turned out to be an amazing cook. If he knew I had to eat this disgusting food, he would scream. It's better if you don't tell him the food is this bad, or he will make lunch for me to bring to school every day… Actually, I think it would be better if he did that because if I have to eat this kind of food again, I am going to puke! And if I don't eat, I am going to be cranky and angry all the time. And you don't want to see me cranky and angry because of hunger..."
While trying to hold back the laughter from seeing her friend so annoyed, Emma ate the now more bearable mashed potatoes and did like Sophia did, cutting the edges of the cooked meat and putting the raw meat on the side. It turned out that with a bit more pepper over the cooked veal, it was tasty.
While swallowing down a piece of meat, Emma said in a low voice, "At least Eliza and her friends went to the hospital, and no one came after you to ask what happened. I guess they didn't say anything, and no one saw what happened. Besides me, of course."
With a smirk, Sophia answered, "Bet they will leave me alone from now on! Or else I might need to punish them a bit more."
While Sophia was in the school cafeteria, Jack Cross was on the other side of the street with his co-worker, buying a burger from a food truck.
Two other security men were in their stations on both sides of the entrance of the tall, windowed building, while Jack was eating with his partner, both seated near the food truck.
While munching, Jack was opening his burger to look at the ingredients, and the other man saw it and asked, "What? Something wrong?"
"No, just checking what is in here. Rather tasty, this… What did you call it... Burger? Yeah, tasty indeed. The right amount of seasoning on the meat, this yellow mustard thing, and the red ketchup thing, completes everything perfectly. And with the fried potatoes on the side, it makes an interesting, filling meal."
"What are you talking about? We ate this exact same burger last week! The way you said it, it sounded like you never tasted a burger before, which I know for a fact is not true!"
With a shrug, Jack explained, "Maybe this one is tastier than the last one we had. Or my tongue is tricking me today. So, after eating, we return to our spot over there, right? At which hour do we leave?"
"Five, like we always do. What is wrong with you today? It can't be a lack of sleep because you had plenty of time to wake up!"
"I guess I am still sleepy. Maybe it's the sun that is making me a bit drowsy. I think I need to buy some groceries for tonight's dinner. Is there a place around here? I remember I have one shop near home."
"You better go there then, because I suppose you are going to get your daughter and run all the way home. It's kind of difficult to run all those kilometres with groceries in your backpack. Unless you want to carry extra weight to get a good exercise."
Jack answered while munching his food, "I can buy things near home, then. Maybe another day I will fill my backpack with groceries, and then I will run to get my daughter, but not today."
While eating, he kept trying to remember the name of the man seated at his side. It was right at the back of his memory, but for some reason, he was having trouble remembering.
As he was drinking the juice from the cup he bought along with the burger, he suddenly said, "Billy Patel!"
The man next to him frowned and asked, "What? What did I do now?"
Thinking about an excuse, Jack said, "Nothing; I was just wondering why that name instead of Billy, Williams, or Billy Smith…"
"Because my parents are from India and Patel is an ancient family name, that's why. With my brownish skin color and my good looks, Williams or Smith wouldn't be a good name. Besides, I am very proud of my family name, thank you very much! You can't say the same about your colonialist family name, you damn English! You were lucky my ancestors didn't decimate your entire family when they went to India, or you wouldn't even be born!"
"You were the lucky one, because my ancestors would have cooked and eaten your entire family, and you wouldn't be born!"
Billy Patel grinned and answered, "Last time I checked, the English weren't cannibals at that time, you know? So, I have no idea what you are talking about!"
While poking Billy's cheek, Jack said with a smile, "Well, you look rather tasty with all this soft meat, and if your ancestors had so much meat like you, I wonder why they weren't eaten."
"Eat your burger and shut up, you crazy guy! Jeez, you are getting crazier by the minute!"
They both laughed, almost choking on the food.