For going nowhere, Taylor and Kris didn't get home for a few hours. By the time they got back, it was already time for dinner. Kris was used to the tightness at the table, considering it was normal to have ten people at one table and two other tables set up for the other eight.
"Too cramped?" Zac asked, lightly smiling at her.
"No." He gave her a look. "I'm used to having ten people at one table."
"Oh really? Why?" Diana asked her.
"Well, nearly every week my sisters and I have some kind of day together. So between my mother, my three sisters, my three brothers-in-law and their ten kids, I'm used to there being a lot of people around." Diana began to calculate it in her head. "That's eighteen people, including me. It was weird around Christmas, Taylor and one of my friends were over so that was twenty people right there."
"Yeah but you don't live with them."
"I know, but sometimes I feel like I do." Kris looked around the table. There was an array of fried chicken, macaroni and cheese, coleslaw and two different kinds of potatoes. "Dang, this is white people food." The rest of the table suddenly looked at her. She looked up. "Oh, sorry."
"White people food?" Diana asked. If there was one person who would never let her live it down, it would be Diana. "What's that supposed to mean?"
"I said I was sorry, I mean it's just that the only time I see this kind of food is like on Labor Day and Memorial Day, sometimes on the Fourth of July, but all the other times this kind of food is practically non-existent. I'm used to Hispanic kinds of food. I didn't mean to be offensive or anything�"
"It's alright, Kris," Taylor said.
"Taylor, stop defending her."
"Who else will? If you keep attacking her like you enjoy doing then yeah, someone else has to tell you to quit." Kris ate her food in silence for the rest of the meal. Conversation was light and between the littler kids. The food, even though it was something Kris had never cared for, was surprisingly very tasty. Even the coleslaw was delicious. Hmm, Kris thought, maybe white people food isn't that bad after all.
After dinner, Kris helped Diana with the dishes. "That was actually a very good meal, Diana. I normally don't care for that kind of food but it was tasty."
"I suppose you could do better?" Kris looked at her.
"I'm complimenting you cooking and you're thinking that I'm putting it down?" Kris asked. "No, I don't think I could do better. Especially with that food."
"Well why don't you make something you eat at home?"
"Maybe I will."
"Good, it'll get me out of cooking for once." Kris sighed and continued drying the dishes Diana was washing. Kris wondered why Diana didn't just stick them in the dishwasher to be cleaned that way, but maybe it was just something to have Kris do with her. Nah.
"But I will need to get some stuff�I'm sure you have nothing I need here."
"Sure. We can go tomorrow." Kris saw the sneer Diana made.
"And what was that?"
"What was what?" Diana asked, looking to Kris.
"You know I saw that. I may love your son and all but you're just a bitch."
"Watch your language. There's children running around here." Kris rolled her eyes. "Don't do that; I hate it."
"I hate how you don't seem to cover that you don't like me. I don't appreciate you talking about me behind my back and insisting that there's something going on between me and Zac when he's nothing but my best friend."
"Oh, he's your best friend now?"
"He's more of a friend to me then he'll ever be to you."
"I'm his mother, I don't need to be his friend."
"That's obvious, he can't stand you just as much as me." Diana put the dish down and looked at Kris directly. "Well he's gone through a lot lately and you don't even seem to notice that there's something wrong. I know where he goes whenever you people are in LA, I know what he does when you're not watching. I know everything."
"Let me guess. You're not going to tell me. Hmph�typical."
"Typical? I'm typical now? What, is just everything about me one big stereotype from you? Huh? Am I just the spick from Chicago that your son fell in love with?"
"Yeah."
"Yeah, well fuck you." Kris threw the plastic cup back into the sink and let the towel drop to the ground. She walked to the entrance of the kitchen when Diana made another comment.
"You going to walk away? Not face your problem at all?"
"I walk away so I don't go over the top and start yelling! Well it's too fucking late for that!" Diana opened her mouth. "Don't tell me to watch my language! I've put up with you since day one and I am sick of it! I don't want to have to be under your surveillance these three weeks! It's obvious you don't like me at all, so why don't you just go back to your dishes while I go fuck around with your son?"
"So you really do screw around when I'm not here�"
"No! That's what you think I do! You think I'm something I'm not. You think that I'm some cheap crack whore people find on the side of the road! I don't know why you think I'm so horrible, but you're not hiding it."
"You want to know why?"
"Yes! Tell me why! God, I've only been trying to get this out of you since the beginning!"
"I know your family. Your mom was the cheap ho who left school at 16 pregnant and engaged. She had three kids before she was 21 and stuck with the bastard of a father you have. She stayed with him when she knew she should have gotten out of it but she didn't have the guts to get out of it. Well 14 years later you pop out and your dad leaves cause he couldn't handle having another baby around!"
"You don't know my family! You may say you know my family but you don't know jack shit. What my mother did was a mistake. She wanted to get married. She thought the idea was great. You can't yell at me for her mistakes. As far as my father is concerned, you don't talk about him. I don't know how you seem to know these people but I don't like your judgments. Yeah, my father was a bastard. I admit that. But don't go saying that he ran off because of me."
"You know he did."
"No he didn't! My father fucking loved me!"
"Kris, how do you think I know your parents? I've known them for a long time." Kris gave her a look. "Where did they live before they moved to Chicago?" Kris leaned against the counter, confused. "They were the only two spicks in Tulsa! The only two. Your mother was a whore, I knew it. Don't think she got pregnant by a once in a blue moon mistake�"
"No. I don't believe it."
"Ask her yourself! Why do you think she let you come here? Does she not remember at all? She knows that Taylor isn't your "cousin," that's for damn sure. She knows everything. She just plays along so you can think you're right. You're not right." Kris looked at her, and if looks could kill Diana would be suffering through her death at that moment.
"Fuck you." Kris ran out of the room.
Diana followed Kris as she wandered through the aisles in the local supermarket. Their fight had only caused trouble between them. Neither of them wanted to be there, and Taylor had even offered to go instead, but Diana insisted she be the one to go.
Kris was strolling with the cart at her own pace, every now and then glancing at the list she had in her hands. She wasn't anywhere near done and they'd been there a half and hour now. Kris was taking her time. Diana was okay with it, but was bored.
Kris found another item she needed and scrutinized between the different brands and prices. After a few minutes she picked it off the shelf and placed it in the cart.
"How many more things to do you need?" Diana asked, trying her best to sound like she didn't want to leave.
"Five."
Kris started strolling again. Diana was relieved that she wanted to cook dinner for all of them. Everything she mentioned to Diana for the dinner was in Spanish, but she still understood the language. Diana decided that they might as well have a civilized conversation. They couldn't just stand around in silence.
"How long have you been speaking Spanish? I remember your parents were the only ones in town who never had to take it because they knew it all," Diana commented. "All my life. I spoke Spanish before I learned how to speak English. I didn't even start to speak English until I was four years old."
"So you're still fluent?"
"S�."
"Usted lo habla con su familia?" (Do you speak it with your family?) Diana asked. Kris, turned to her, surprised.
"No esperaba que usted dijera algo en espa�ol. No lo contaba con especialmente en une tienda de comestildes que est� en el centro del hickville." (I wasn't expecting you to say something in Spanish. I was not expecting it especially in a grocery store located in the center of hickville.)
"Bien?" (Well?)
"S�. Incluso lo habl� con Taylor un d�gito binario anterior. El recuerda mucho." (Yes. I even spoke it with Taylor a bit earlier. He remembers a lot)
"El lo habl� durante mucho tiempo. C�mo usted lo habla a menudo con �l?" (He did speak it for a long time. How often do you speak it with him?)
"Tan a menudo como puedo. Lo estoy intentendo al re-ensenan a el." (As often as I can. I'm trying to re-teach it to him.)
"Great."
"What?" Kris asked. "You don't want me to teach it to him? You don't want me to speak it with him?" Diana shrugged.
"Whatever." Kris bit her lip. She wasn't about to start a reenactment of the previous night again in a grocery store. Too many people around and if her parents really did live there at one point, maybe they remembered who they were. Now, instead of taking her time, she grabbed what she needed quickly and in ten minutes they were out of the store.
"See what you can do when you put your mind to it?" Diana asked, loading up the car with the grocery bags.
"See what I can do when I don't want to spend another minute with you?" Kris asked. She put the last bag in the trunk and closed it, narrowly missing Diana's hand. "Oh, sorry."
"Don't get hostile because I make comments."
"Don't get bitchy cause I happen to care about you and your family." Diana rolled her eyes and got into the car. Kris climbed in and sat in silence.
The ride home was boring. It didn't take very long, but they sat in silence. The radio wasn't even on. Kris figured Diana would be like the rest of her family; unable to do anything without a bit of music. It annoyed Kris to no end when she tried to sleep the previous night. The boys couldn't go to sleep without music.
Kris waited for Diana to say something. When she didn't, it didn't seem to bother her. In the back of her mind she hoped Diana would stay quiet for the rest of her stay. Like hell that would happen.
When they pulled up to the house, Kris got out quickly. She grabbed what groceries she could and brought them into the house. "Taylor, help," she said. He looked up. "Groceries. I don't want to bring them all in myself." He rolled his eyes and walked outside.
"That girl is a bitch," Diana said to him. "Can you believe she had the nerve to talk back to me in the store. I can't believe it."
"Well, Mom, considering what you said to her last night I'm not surprised she hasn't walked out yet."
"I was hoping she would."
"As much as you don't want it, she is my girlfriend and I do love her very much. Don't go off on her or we'll be mad at you all the time."
"What else is new?" Diana asked and walked into the house. Kris passed her, and didn't bother looking at her. Kris walked up to Taylor, who was grabbing bags from the trunk. She took the final two and closed the trunk.
"She's mad at me."
"I know." Taylor looked over at Kris. "How you holding out?"
"I'll be alright. As much as I don't want to say it, she hurt me a lot." Taylor opened the door and they went inside the house. Diana had put the groceries that were already brought inside into the cabinets and the refrigerator, and had left the room. "You gonna watch me?" she asked.
"You're starting now?" He turned around to look at the clock on the microwave. "It's only 4:00."
"It'll take me a while. I should be ready by 6." He shrugged and sat down. She looked through the various cabinets for ingredients Diana said she had and for pots to cook things in. "Do you have a rice cooker thing?" she asked, standing up.
"No, I don't think so."
"Strange people." She disappeared beneath the counter again, looking for a pan. She looked at the stove. "Oh you have one of those cool stoves! The ones with the circles."
"Yeah, the burners are underneath," Taylor pointed out.
"I knew that. It's just I love these things. I've always wanted one." She turned on a few burners and put pots on top of each one. She grabbed various objects and threw their contents into the pans.
"Are you sure you know what you're doing?" Taylor asked.
"Yeah! This is the way my mother taught me. I've been doing it for my family for years."
"Okay�if you know what you're doing."
Kris flipped the rice around in a pan. After a few minutes she took it off the burner and grabbed a cutting board and a very large knife. She began chopping vegetables quickly, completely scaring Taylor. Every time the knife hit the board he was afraid she was going to chop off a finger. But every time the knife hit the board, she moved her finger back in the nick of time to not have it cut off.
"Don't do that so fast."
Kris looked up. "What?"
"You're freaking me out. Don't do that so fast. I keep thinking you're going to chop off a finger or something."
"It's not sharp enough to cut off a finger. Anyway, I've done this a million times. I could do it with my eyes closed."
"Please don't." She smiled at him.
"You don't think I could?"
"I don't care if you could, for all I know you could mess up and be two fingers short or something and ruin dinner!"
"You're so pessimistic, Taylor." She brought the board to a pot of boiling water and put the vegetables into it. "I couldn't hurt myself cooking if I tried�ow!" She looked at her finger and put it in her mouth.
"Even if you tried, huh?" Taylor asked, laughing. "What'd you do?"
"I burnt my finger." She looked at her finger again. "That hurt. I've never done it before." She shrugged and went back to her cooking.
Zac walked into the kitchen, two hours later. "Something smells good."
"Set the table, Zac," Kris said, opening the over and pulling out one of her dishes. "I'm almost done."
"You know, that's what I get for leaving my room. I walk out of the room and Mom says 'Zac, go help your sister.' I walk downstairs. 'Zac, clean that mess you made in the living room.' I walk in here 'Zac, set the table.' Well I'm not going to do it."
"Watch out." Kris passed him with a hot dish of food. "And you're going to do it if I have to threaten to not let you eat tonight. You can have whatever you can find tomorrow."
"That's not fair!"
"Then set the table!" Kris said, and shooed him out of the way. "I've been cooking for two hours."
"I've been doing stupid chores for two hours! I don't want to do it anymore!"
"Do it, Zac." He groaned and did what he was told.
Ten minutes later Kris had finished dressing her dishes and was placing them on the table. Zac was complaining, but that was usual. "Even if I had to help, it still looks good."
"Thanks," Kris said. "I think."
"Dinner!" Zac yelled. Eventually, the flock of people came by and took their seats. Kris explained everything that was on the table.
"Okay, over here is Chicken in yellow rice, over there is Payaya and Yuca. In the middle is Palomilla steak." The family gave her a look. "Just eat it."
The family began to pile food onto their plates. Kris waited for a comment as they ate. She didn't take much (mostly because she didn't care for a lot of the food she made) but ate it anyway.
"Kris, this is wonderful," Diana said. She was the first to make a comment. Kris looked at her, surprised. "What? I can comment on your food, can't I?"
"I wasn't expecting you to say anything, sorry."
"She's right you know," Taylor added. The rest of the family agreed. "We need to have you cook more often." Kris smiled. They liked her culture. They liked her food. Yay!
Taylor and Isaac stayed behind to help out with the dishes. Zac ran off as soon as he could so he wouldn't get weaseled into helping out again. He had too much to do as it was.
"I don't think I've ever had something that good in my life," Isaac commented. Kris smiled. "Seriously."
"Thanks. So you people like something other than white people food, huh?" Kris asked.
"Well, yeah, but don't say anything," Taylor commented. Kris smacked him.
"Sometimes I wonder if you people are dating or killing each other."
"Both," Kris and Taylor said at the same time.
"Woah, dude, get away from me," Kris said, backing away. "When we start saying the same thing at the same time it means we've spent too much time together."
"We've been together for what, two days now?"
"Well you were in Chicago for like a week before I came here." Taylor thought about it.
"But we didn't spend all our time together."
"We spent most of it together."
"Okay. What do you want me to do about it?" Kris shrugged. "That's what I figured."
"So�hi Isaac! I haven't talked your head off yet."
"That's great. I like my distance, thank you."
"So you've been avoiding all of us because you like your distance? I don't know you, dude! Talk."
"No thanks."
"Fruit."
"What'd you call me?"
"A fruit!" Kris said, laughing. "I call everybody that. Right, Taylor?" Kris turned to Taylor.
"Unfortunately, yes."
"Hey!" She looked at the two of them. "Fine then. I'm getting Zac to do this." She ran out of the room.