How Sweet It Is - Alice J. Wisler [78]
I call the boys over to help the rest of us unload our food supplies. The food is piled in old cardboard boxes I used to move to Bryson City. Bubba ceremoniously flexes arm muscles he does not have, grins when I tell him I think he has actually put on some weight, and helps me carry the boxes needed for tonight to the picnic tables by the two campsites.
One box contains jars of condiments, cans of baked beans, potato chips, and fruit juice boxes. Hamburger and hot dog buns, chocolate bars, graham crackers, and marshmallows fill another. The third holds paper plates, cups, napkins, and plastic utensils. My Coleman cooler is stocked with ground beef, hot dogs, cheese, sausages, and two cartons of eggs. Some of this is breakfast food. Darren takes two pans of brownies out of the trunk of my Jeep as Joy places a bag of charcoal by the fire pit. Rhonda opens another cooler, one I borrowed from Miriam. From it, she takes out a bottle of Aquafina and unscrews the cap. She pauses to take a few sips and then takes a jug of drinking water from the back of Zack’s truck. She sets it on one of the picnic tables.
“Maybe,” she says, her eyes glancing across both of the tables, “we should let one of these tables be for storing food and the other the one we eat at.”
“Storing food on a table!” yells Bubba, his little body lifting a box. “If you keep food outside, the bears will be sure to find us.”
“Bears!” Joy looks like she just saw one. “I hate bears.”
“You’re right, Bubba.” Zack threads the end of a rope through a grommet. “After we eat, we’ll have to put all the leftovers back inside the cars.”
Rhonda frowns. “I wasn’t suggesting we leave food out all night,” she snaps.
Zack keeps his attention on the rope.
Robert glances over at me.
Then Joy says, “Will y’all please pray that no bears attack us tonight?”
“Or snakes,” says Lisa.
“I’ll pray,” Rainy tells her. “I’m good at praying.”
————
Joy and Bubba help Robert with the burgers and hot dogs. Rainy and Charlotte stir the baked beans cooking on a grate by the fire as I supervise. Rhonda slices tomatoes and onions, because after Charlotte’s episode with the kitchen knife, everyone’s afraid of cutting themselves. They won’t admit it to any of us, but we know. Rhonda opens two store-bought containers of coleslaw and places them on the table. Zack sets the table with the napkins, plates, and forks. Rhonda edges close to whisper a few things to Zack. I try to control my emotions. If I named them, they would be jealousy, jealousy, jealousy. You have to give that up, I tell myself as I watch Bobby, Lisa, and Darren place juice boxes at each place setting. You are not in the business of jealousy. You must protect your heart from everything. Haven’t you learned that yet?
At last, Robert announces that the grilled food is done, and with a holler, Bobby rushes to his place at the table, lifting his fork for emphasis. “Bring it on!” he shouts. “I’m starving.”
After Robert offers the blessing, we eat in silence, except for the children’s noisy manners. I am tempted to smack my lips like Bubba, but I know that as an adult, I have to set a good example. Zack sits beside me, although there is a vacancy by Rhonda. Charlotte fills it after she returns from the restroom.
“This is good food,” Bubba says, as bits of bread fly from his lips. “But do you know what would make it better?”
I think we are all expecting to hear some reference to McDonald’s. I know I am.
“What, Bubba?” asks Zack.
“Crispy potatoes like we made in class. Ms. Livingston, those were sweet!”
I smile; a tiny quiver of happiness runs into my veins.
“I like cooking,” says Rainy. “Of course, I am good at it.” She smiles at Dougy, who groans and crams half a hotdog into his mouth.
————
After dinner and a few guesses at charades, we sit around a glowing bed of red coals and roast marshmallows for s’mores. Squares of Hershey’s chocolate and graham crackers line a flat, wide stone. The children build their own creations.
Bubba licks the last of his gooey chocolate-marshmallow-graham-cracker