Different and Cool (2017)

EXTRA - Over Coffee and Cake

Different and Cool: Over Coffee and Cake

By Reid M. Haynes

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THURSDAY NIGHT

The fury of the rainfall had acquiesced over the past few hours, giving Mary some comfort as she strode towards the Reichardt residence to pick up her nephew. She had hung around for a few minutes out of sight to make sure Andy was allowed into his estranged friend's home, and once she had seen him go in, she decided to kill some time doing errands. Her attempt to sneak in a trip to the convenience store was thwarted by her husband, who had noticed her increasing weight, as well as her penchant for Weaver Brand Suncake. Though she knew he was right, couldn't he let her have just a little comfort food, considering how stressful the night had been?

As she rang the doorbell, Mary sighed, her eyes rolling to the ceiling. The whole thing had unfolded right in front of her eyes over the past week. Andy had hit the wall dealing with his week-long philosophy assignment and his partner Tarah Reichardt, a strange, bug-loving girl he didn't particular care for. As he stumbled through the project, Mary offered guidance to the best of her ability, but the simple philosophical truths she knew seemed to elude his young, fourteen-year-old mind. It was on Thursday that his hidden strife had finally caught up with him, culminating in an emotional collapse over Tarah, whom he had apparently hurt at school, and also completely changed his opinion of.

So they found themselves out and about, riding out the storm as Andy did his best to reconcile with Tarah. Mary couldn't help but puff up with pride at her nephew (better than puffing up with pastries, she could hear her husband's chiding tone in her head).

The doorknob made a clicking sound as it turned, and it swung open to reveal a youngish woman with braided hair draped over her shoulder. "Hello, you must be Andrew's mother," the woman said, holding out her hand. "I'm Margaret."

"So glad to finally meet you, Margaret!" Mary beamed, taking her proffered hand in an enthusiastic shake. "I'm Andy's aunt, actually, Mary."

"Hmmm?" Margaret's eyes flashed for a moment, like a disc drive processing new information. "Oh yes, I remember Tarah saying something about Andrew living with his aunt and uncle," she said finally "I'm sorry!"

"Oh, you're fine!" Mary laughed, secretly enjoying the idea that she could be thought of as Andy's mother. "It happens a lot."

"Well, we've only been in town for a few years, so I'm afraid we still don't know many people," the other woman said as she led Mary through the eccentrics aesthetics of her home (painted pinecones and clay urns, among other things). "I believe we saw each other at an Open House last year at Starlight Jr. High."

"I remember that!" Mary grinned. "The lemon pound cake you brought was to die for."

"Yes, I still have some from a couple days ago that I made for one of my husband's business functions," Margaret said, and Mary's tongue moistened in anticipation. "Perhaps you would like a piece?"

Mary's hands shot out and clasped Margaret's. "Would I!" she exclaimed, and then her self-awareness kicked in. "I mean, I don't want to be a bother or anything..."

Margaret's eyes widened at Mary's sudden outburst, but soon smiled benevolently.

A minute later, Mary and Margaret were seated at the kitchen table, helping themselves to pound cake and freshly ground coffee. While Margaret enjoyed her cake with restraint, Mary dug in with gusto, wolfing it down with all the wild abandon of a starving traveler from the Emerald Veldt. "Oh my!" Margaret gasped, putting her fork down for a moment. "You sure enjoy your confections!"

"I know, I'm awful, aren't it?" Mary swallowed her mouthful before continuing, having not completely lost her senses in her sugar rush. "My husband gets on to me all the time over my binging. I guess we all have to deal with some sort of temptation in our lives."

Margaret placed her hands together and closed her eyes. "A vulnerable spirit must be guarded against temptation," she intoned, and Mary marveled at the serene aura she was radiating. "May these sacred beads seal your inner gluttony."

"Oh that's not...whoa!!" Mary nearly spilled her coffee as Margaret draped a beaded necklace around her shoulders. "R-Really, it's no problem," she stammered, fingering her new beads with trepidation. "I just need to get back on top of Biff Chopin's Weight Loss Plan for Women."

"With a little bit of spiritual help on your side now." Margaret smiled warmly at her.

Mary looked back up at her host, finding the mysterious woman's enthusiasm infectious. "Well, I guess I'll take any help I can get!" she bubbled, laughing in spite of herself. Her eyes shot open, remembering why she was here. "Oh, I better get Andy!" she said, easing her chair from the table. "Can't spend too much time gorging!"

"Tarah and Andrew were in the living room when I last checked on them." Margaret followed Mary's lead as they got up together. "Let's take our snack there." Many nodded, and they picked up their coffee and cake and headed into the next room.

When Mary entered the living room, she was hit with a sight almost too cute for words. The woman put a hand to her mouth as she observed Andy and Tarah, asleep on the sofa with paper and pens all about them. Tarah was leaning against Andy, her large glasses drifting crookedly off her nose like a teenage professor taking a nap by her beakers. Andy's mouth was open, with a small bit of drool dangling off in a undignified expression, but this did not dampen the mood for Mary.

"Oh, it's so sweet...!" Mary said, a tear coming to her eye.

Margaret smiled wistfully. "He's Tarah first friend, you know," she said, walking over to her slumbering daughter. "Before we settled down in Starlight City, we had moved every year for my husband's work in the army, and Tarah was a plant that could never sow its roots. Two years ago, Samson started his own business as an independent weapons contractor for the police, so we were able to stay put for the first time since we got married." Margaret pulled Tarah's pigtail out of her face with the gentleness of a mother cat. "She's always been a bit of an odd child, but I think these two are going to have a long future together."

Mary's face was soft, yet somber as she approached her nephew on the couch. "Andy's had it tough, too," she told the other woman, regarding the young lad's slowly maturing features. "His parents were killed in a car accident about three years ago, and he's never been quite the same. He used to be such an eager, boisterous boy, but afterwards, he was so quiet and unsure, like he didn't know what to make of the world anymore. I thought he had come out of his shell this year, but we had a big blowup at our house tonight, so we ended up here to try and fix things."

Margaret leaned in; her large, unblinking eyes seemed to envelop Mary's entire being. "You blame yourself for Andy's strife," she said.

Mary smiled sadly, looking down into her murky coffee. "Andy's mother was my best friend," she told the woman, trusting her almost completely now. "She was such a spitfire, nothing like me at all, and Andy and her took to each other like peas and carrots. It was like Andy was being fed a constant supply of positive energy, and he was on full-power all the time. Ever since she passed on, I tried so hard to fill that role, but I just couldn't be that kind of inspiration for him..."

"Oh, but I think there's another way to look at it!" Margaret waved off the morose pondering with a smile. "It was you and your husband that took Andy back to reconcile with my daughter. He may have had to figure out some things on his own, but you always made sure the right path was cleared off for him. You talk to him often, do you not?"

"Absolutely!" Mary said, almost offended by the idea she wasn't on top of her nephew's moods. "I've never let him slip through the cracks, if I can help it!"

Margaret nodded. "We don't need to be all powerful," she explained. "We just need to be their support when things get tough. And I know he trusts you to be that for him."

Mary smiled, looking back over to the woman. "You sure know how to get to the heart of the matter," she said, with a teasing tone. "Is this clairvoyance from your mystic charms?"

"Nope." Margaret shook her head. "Just a mother recognizing a mother."

Mary's breath caught in her throat at the insinuation, but Margaret just continued to smile at her. It was subtle, but Mary could feel a small weight lift that she didn't even know she was carrying.

"...mmmmmph..." a low groan was coming from the sofa, and Mary looked down to find Andy fidgeting by Tarah's side. His eyes were still closed, but he was waving his arm about as if trying to reach for something.

Mary leaned forward, and shook his shoulder gently. "Andy, time to go home," she whispered, as Andy raised a sleepy eyelid to her. "School's tomorrow."

"Mmm'kay..." Andy muttered, weakly rising to his feet as Mary helped him up.

With an arm around his shoulder, Mary guided him to the foyer, stopping briefly to take the kids schoolwork that Margaret had gathered up for her. "Thank you so much for your hospitality, Margaret," she told the woman. "I'll make it up to you, I promise."

"No thanks are needed," Margaret said, then turned her head to look at Tarah, who was now curled up on the sofa clutching a pillow. "But please continue to take care of Andy. For Tarah's sake as well."

Mary smiled at her half-asleep nephew, who looked at her with a bleary gaze. "That's what I'm here for," she said.



END