"Beth?" Syl called as she opened the door with her old key.
The maid greeted her when she heard her enter, informing her that Neil, Beth and Faith had been out all day. Syl nodded and smiled, "That's all right. I'm here as a surprise anyway. Actually, do you think you can help me?" She opened the door wider to reveal several bags of groceries and a box with a triple-chocolate birthday cake. "How are you with Mexican cuisine, Miss Rita?"
Once the groceries were in the kitchen and they were ready to cook, Syl pulled out her cel phone and quickly sent a text message to Beth. She needed her friend to buy her some time.
Two hours later, Syl let out a long drawn-out sigh.
"Okay, that was harder than I thought. How mom and mi tia were always able to pull that off I have no clue," she said, then thanked Rita for her help. She really couldn't have cooked all this in time without her.
Putting the last dish on the dining room table, she looked over the array of Mexican food with a bit of pride. Enchiladas, chalupas, carne asada and the family specialty, chile con carne, for dinner with coyotas, churros and her daughter's birthday cake for desert. Four place settings were arranged around the table.
After a moment, it dawned on her exactly how much food she had actually just made. They would have leftovers for probably a week at least.
Shit, she thought. I just channeled my mother again, didn't I.
She chuckled as she shook her head and went into the kitchen to clean up while she waited for the others to arrive.
Wild Horses (Aniela)
-
Sighing, Aniela leaned into Goliath, resting her chin on her folded arms as
she lay them against the crest of his neck. His ears twitched as he
detected he...
14 years ago
He was tired and a little sore, Faith had way too much energy. It had been a fun day, he enjoyed spoiling her and having Beth along had made the day even more fun.
ReplyDeleteArriving home for a shower before they headed out for dinner, he was surprised when he opened the door and smelled the food. Rita had known they were heading out.
He shook his head, turning and walking into the kitchen. He stopped dead, seeing the spread of food and then looking around he saw Syl and he laughed, walking over and giving her a huge hug.
"Oh shit, did she tell you what I got her already?" He laughs, putting his arm around her shoulder as he looked at the food.
"This reminds me of your Mom." he smirks, "Can we start?" he asks, licking his lips as he picked out some of his favorites.
"You could never wait when my Mom was cooking dinner," she laughed as she dried her hands on a towel. "Yeah, go ahead. Why do you think I cooked all this for? Hope you don't mind eating Mexican for a week. I think I overdid it."
ReplyDeleteThen putting the towel on the counter, she folded her arms and turned to him with a suspicious grin. "But first, who told me you got her what now?"
Suddenly, Faith charged in excitedly and gave her mom a big sweaty hug. "Ohmygod! Ma! Uncleneilbuiltmeahockeyrinkitssoawesomeimgonnatakeashowernowberightback," she rambled before running out of the kitchen again.
Syl stared after the girl, then down at the patches of sweat left behind on her shirt, before looking back at Neil with confusion. "Okay, what did you do to my daughter? Can you translate what she just said to me? Or did you get her a espresso machine for her birthday or something?"
Beth bounced in behind everyone and grinned widely at Sylvia. 'Syl! she said excitedly and gave her a big hug. 'I missed you!'
ReplyDeleteWhilst Sylvia, Faith and Neil chatted, Beth went into grab Max, who was being looked after by Rita. She came out, Max in her arms, waved his arm to everyone to say hello and settled him on the floor with a rug, underneath his floor gym. Beth giggled as Faith spoke a thousand miles a minute about the day they had and the present Neil had organised for her.
Beth looked out at the spread of food and was stunned by the amazing array that was before her. 'Holy shit Syl! When did you find the time to do all of this?' she took a seat at the table. 'Seriously... you are a machine!'
He manages to look completely innocent and shrugs. "No idea, must have been the espresso we had on the way home." he glances around,
ReplyDelete"Hey, Beth, yeah Syl, hmmm. You two talk." as he walked past her, he grinned and mouthed the words 'thank you'
He then did the smartest and safest thing he could do. He grabbed a plate and headed for the table. It was time to eat, the condemned deserved a good meal after all.
His plate full, he found a seat as far away from Sylvia as possible. It wasn't going to last forever, Faith would come down eventually or Beth would sell him out. Either way, the food was delicious and he was going to die with a full stomach.
Beth shook her head, she knew that he was going to be in trouble, but she was torn between selling him out for a laugh and watching Sylvia rip him a new one or watching him squirm for the next fifteen minutes before Faith came down to join them.
ReplyDeleteWith her full plate, she took a seat next to Neil, but in eye line of Max on the floor and awaited Faith's arrival.
'So Syl... how's the tour going?' She was desperate to change the subject, and hopeful, Neil's death wouldn't be so agonizing.
Syl chuckled and shook her head. The truth would come out eventually when Faith was done with her shower. Whether or not she'd understand it when her daughter spoke in an incoherent rush was another question entirely.
ReplyDeleteShe filled her own plate and headed for the table to join her friends, pausing to crouch down by Max to give him a tiny bit of mashed churro. "Here ya go, little man." She chuckled when it was apparent he was more interested in sucking on the little piece of pastry rather than actually eating it.
Sitting at the table, she sighed at the mention of the tour. "It's been..." She paused to try to think of something positive to say. "... good, actually. My bandmate Gareth is managing to keep out of the hospital this time around. He's not used to this kind of grueling schedule," she explained. "I should probably start dragging his ass to the gym. He's a good guy, but he's hard to work with when he's almost constantly exhausted."
She chewed on a bit of asada before continuing. "Otherwise, it's been... quiet since you guys left."
She avoided mentioning how awkward it had become knowing she was touring with people that absolutely despised her. At least when her friends were with her, it was so much easier to ignore that fact. Now, though these people hadn't stooped to poisoning her morning coffee (yet), the tension in the air while travelling was more than a bit unnerving.
She really couldn't wait for the tour to be over.
The hurried thumping down the stairs told everyone that Faith was finished with her shower and the girl rushed over to the kitchen to grab a plate of food. "Sweet! You made 'Buella's special chile! Awesome!"
She sat down at the table and began eating, as everyone watched her, expecting her to say something.
Pausing a moment to swallow, she looked around a bit confused about why everyone seemed to be waiting for her. "What? I'm starving." Faith grinned as she turned her attention back to her food. "We've been playing hockey all day. You can't expect me to *not* be hungry after that."
Syl chuckled, "Hockey, eh? Well, that certainly explains your excitement."
"Yeah, Uncle Neil built me a hockey rink and everything."
"Wait," she glanced over at Neil, before looking back at her daughter. "He *built* you a hockey rink?"
"Yeah, and it's so awesome!" Faith beamed and began to describe the building, the new equipment, the synthetic ice and the day she had.
Syl listened with a smile, glad to hear her daughter was enjoying her birthday, but kept throwing glances across the table to her brother to let him know they were so very much going to have a talk about this later.
Beth, noticing the glances and hearing a frustrated Max on the floor, got up from the table and walked around to Max on the floor. 'Oh little man, let's get ya some tucker eh?' She said with picking her young son up off the floor. He was frowning, like he didn't like missing the action up at the table.
ReplyDeleteBeth walked back to the table, with Max on her lap and proceeded to eat with one hand, trying not to laugh at the continued glances from Syl and Neil ignoring looking in her general direction.
'You are forgetting to mention the part where I fell here Faith, you are being much too kind!' Beth said with a giggle.
Faith laughed, "I used to fall all the time when I started out, Miss Beth." The girl still hadn't dropped the formal title when addressing her, but that was more from habit and respect than any lack of affection. Beth was fun to be around, and Faith was glad she was staying with her and her uncle. "Falling down doesn't matter as long as you get back up," she added, completely oblivious of the sage wisdom in her statement.
ReplyDeleteSyl chewed a bit of food in a moment of distracted thought, before turning her attention back to the conversation. "Hey, Beth? What was that you just said to Max a moment ago? Something about 'getting a tucker'? What does that mean?"
"Yeah, that sounded really cool, Miss Beth," Faith piped in with a grin. "You have an awesome accent."
Syl looked over at her daughter with a smile. She had never seen her girl so socialable before and it was reassuring to see. Faith hadn't made many friends her own age yet, but she was getting comfortable with people who weren't her mother or her uncle, so that was a start.
Then Syl looked at her brother, who was still avoiding her gaze, and remembered something he had said to her once.
"Since we're on the topic of Aussie, Neil told me something about me 'needing a root'. What does that mean?"
Open-mouthed and stunned, Beth burst into hysterical, roaring laughter. Max got a fright and started to cry, and Beth swatted Neil in the back of the head. ‘Why’d you go and do that for huh?’ She said still laughing, a tear running down her cheek. ‘Oh geez… Neil’s is implying that you need to get laid Syl. I really hope you haven’t said that to any Aussie blokes on your travels!’ Beth put Max on her shoulder and patted his back to soothe him.
ReplyDeleteBeth continued to burst into tiny fits of ‘hehe’ laughter every time she looked at Neil, who was sporting a pretty cheeky smirk at this stage, and Syl who was throwing daggers at Neil via her eyes.
‘Oh tucker?’ Beth remembering the earlier question, she picked up a taco shell and waved it around. ‘It’s food!’ She said with a smile, Max’s little hands tried to grab the shell and Beth pulled it away. ‘Always wanting what you can’t have little one!’ She said, giving him an affectionate kiss on the forehead, she handed him a teething ring from the bench and he promptly put it in his mouth. Beth smoothed Max’s hair and kissed him again. ‘How much longer have you got of the tour Syl? You are coming back here when it’s done right?’ Beth sounded anxious, she was excited she’d made a new friend in Sylvia and hoped that they could spend more time together.
He had been trying to focus on his food till Syl brought up root. "Oh shit." he mumbled into his plate and when Beth swatted him, he burst out laughing.
ReplyDeleteHe pushed away from the table, loading a little more food onto his plate first, before he walked around the island, putting some distance between himself and the women. He looked at Max "Dude, you are gonna have to stick up for me and keep your Mom busy." He winks, "Man code, we stick together."
He grabbed a beer, tossing a bottle to the two other ladies before taking a long sip, giving himself time to think.
"So, about the rink, it isn't real ice and it was a real pain in the ahhh... butt" he smiles at Faith "to try and book ice time all the time, so I found a warehouse on the edge of town and invested." He flashes Syl a grin, "Hey, it was either that or buy her a car so she could drive herself but she told me she wasn't old enough to drive yet and you know damn well she is getting one next year off me so don't give me that look now." He laughs and takes another long sip from his beer.
"Now, on the more practical side, her skating is great, she does circles around Beth." He winked at Beth "and yeah, I think you need to take Syl out and go root hunting." He sticks his tongue out at them both, smirking.
Faith picked up her napkin, wiping her mouth to hide her amused grin as the grown ups talked so candidly about 'roots' in front of her.
ReplyDeleteSyl shot a frown at her daughter. "Not one word from you, young lady," she said sternly. Knowing Faith, the girl probably secretly agreed that her mother 'needed a root' too.
Twisting the top off her beer, Syl shot another 'I'm going to kill you later' face at Neil, before continuing. "Yeah, I can believe that," she nodded as she took a quick sip. "The only way I could get Faith to come out on a run with me is if I let her take her roller blades, so she's had a lot of practice." She chuckled, "Now the question is: can she skate circles around *you* yet?"
"Not yet, Ma," the girl grinned at her uncle, as she went for a second serving of chile. "And those last couple of rounds of one-on-one don't count. I think you let me win those on purpose, Uncle Neil."
"Ya sure, Faith? I mean, ya know, your uncle *is* getting pretty old," Syl chimed in, sticking her tongue out at her brother with her own mischievous smirk before turning her attention back to Beth's question. "As for the tour, it finishes just before New Year's, but I, uh..." Her smile faltered a bit. "I just... need to visit somebody first... then I gotta get some work done at the Hog. But it shouldn't take long. I'll be back in no time."
He laughs, flipping Syl the bird when Faith's back is to him and following it with a wink. He grabs himself another beer as he sets down his empty one.
ReplyDeleteHe grins at Faith, "You are getting good kid, no argument, you are fast and your control is good, what we need to work on is puck control." He glances up at Syl and smiles, "Start taking a stick out on the runs, grab a tennis ball and try to control it, slow an easy, soft hands right."
He raises his eyebrows when she says she needs to visit someone, glancing at Beth and winking. "Maybe she has an itch?" he laughs, picking up his plate and moving so Beth was now between him and Syl.
He was hoping it might save him from a flying enchilada, after all, she liked Beth.
Beth turned around and threw a churro at Neil's head. When the doodle-looking pastry hit Neil square in the face, near his mouth, Beth and Sylvia lost control and broke out into hysterical laughter. Through tears, Beth tried to retort 'That's so mean!' but the words couldn't come out.
ReplyDeleteAfter the girls settled down, Beth settled Max on her knee and she wiped the tears of laughter from her eyes. 'I'm sorry Cowboy... but really... an itch?' She shook her head and gave Sylvia a wink. 'We're gonna run circles around you Cowboy! Your only hope here is a six month old...' Beth giggled again, waving Max's arms.
Syl sat back, wiping away a tear in her eye that had resulted from the laughter, and gave Beth an appreciative grin. That jab about an 'itch' had hurt, though Neil probably would never had said it if he realized how much it stung and why it did. Beth's flying churro had helped take away a lot of the sting.
ReplyDeleteShe took another sip of her beer, paused a moment, then put the bottle still mostly full down on the table, deciding not to have any more. It was Faith's birthday; Syl wasn't going to drown herself in alcohol and ruin the rest of the day for her daughter or anybody else.
But that didn't mean she couldn't indulge in a few more chalupas.
"So how about you guys?" she asked as she put a few more on her plate. "As awesome as it is to just sit back and relax on the beach with good company, you guys are gonna start itching to do something eventually." She paused when she realized her choice of words, then chuckled, "Okay, you guys do know that's *not* what I meant, right?"
She let herself smile. The company was too good to get depressed now.
He picked the churro off his head, tossing it in the sink, laughing. He grabbed a towel and set Max on the counter, wiping himself clean till Beth scooped him up, hiding behind him.
ReplyDelete"Yeah, I got an itch." he grins at Syl and winks, laughing. He walks past Beth, spinning a chair around at the table and straddling it.
"Ms Christou, revenge is sweet, unlike the spicy churro." he leans back over the chair, talking to Syl again.
"Well, and you are the first to know, Lefty here was talking to me about joining a punk band?" He shrugs, "Figured it might be new, different and hell, the company isn't bad, most of the time."
He winks at Syl, "So like maybe after your tour we can work out a new schedule, if you are interested in hitting the road with your bro and the big B?"
He grins, knowing that was gonna get him in more trouble, but not caring.
Beth shifts in her chair with a glare and feeds Max’s his night time bottle. ‘Just be lucky Cowboy, that I am trying to settle Max down for bed. Otherwise, I’d be out of this chair and smacking you in the head for that quip.’ Max gurgled a little and Beth looked down.
ReplyDelete‘You should join us Syl. It would be heaps of fun. It’ll be a bit cruisey and we can all hang out and everything…’ She said smiling. ‘Faith can come, she’ll have loads of kids to hang out with…’ Beth said referring to her own brood. She smiles and gives Faith a wink.
‘I don’t even know when we would be going on the road…’ Beth said wondering out loud.
Syl grinned as she finished off her last chalupa. "Actually, that was something I've been meaning to ask you guys, but I was worried you two would be in separate bands and I'd have to choose who to tour with." She chuckled, "This would make everything so much easier. And my bandmate would appreciate the more laid-back schedule. This last tour has been insane." Then she threw Neil a wry smile, "I'll get more than 4 days notice this time, right, bro?"
ReplyDeleteFaith perked up at the mention of other kids. Most of the kids in Rio didn't speak English, so she had trouble making friends. "Really? Who's coming, Miss Beth? How old are they? Can they play hockey?"
Syl laughed, grinning at her friend. "This would probably be a good time for you to write all your kids' names down, Beth. I'm still having trouble remembering them all. I don't think Faith's going to fare any better."
Her daughter made a face and stuck out her tongue at her mother. "Geez, Ma. I'm not dumb. I'll remember them just fine. How many of them could there be?"
Beth chuckled as she sat Max forward and began to rub his back. ‘Well Faith, I am sure Zachary will be coming this time, he’ll be 12 by the time we go on tour and he most definitely does know how to skate. Tilly, Annabelle and Mila, who are 10, 9 and 5 respectively, the girls are pretty close but Tilly has met you once I think, and she thinks you are ‘really cool’.’ Beth chuckles at the memory of that conversation. She shook her head with a smile. ‘Oh and of course this tired big guy here is coming with us!’ She showered Max with kisses on the top of his head. ‘Hopefully when my eldest son, Jackson has a break from his band, you can meet him. He is 16.’
ReplyDeleteBeth stood up and walked around the island in the kitchen and rocked Max in her arms. ‘I can’t believe how quick they grow up. Melodi, she is 14, she is studying hard at the Blues University and Mia, she is 12, she is in New York City. But my spies tell me that Mia is going to move along soon…’ She looked down at smiled at Max that was closing his eyes slowly, she reached over and grabbed his pacifier and put it in his mouth. He sucked on it gently. Her voice dropped down a bit more quiet. ‘You can be assured too Syl, you will most definitely get more than four days notice for a tour! I think a cruisey tour is a good idea, but still feasible for maintaining our fame and such in the cities’
Beth looked around at Neil, Sylvia and Faith. ‘Your thoughts?’ She smiled.
He sits back, just laughing softly. "Ryan will probably join us too." He offers quietly, thinking for a few moments.
ReplyDelete"Slow works, find some time for the fun stuff in between, I mean it has been a long time since I went hunting on the day of the dead." he laughs, thinking about the timing.
"I figure we should be ready to kick ass when Syl's tour ends." He smirks at Beth, knowing she didn't expect him to be up to speed that fast.
"Assuming you don't want too much of a break?" he grins at Syl. "And as your record manager, let me say, you don't." he laughs.
"I am a quick study." He grins.
Syl sighed, groaned, then stuck her tongue out at her brother. "We'll see if my bandmate is still alive by the last show, first." She chuckled, "Unless of course you wanna pay for his funeral."
ReplyDeleteStanding up, she began collecting empty plates and dirty dishes, to make room for Faith's triple-chocolate birthday cake. "Personally, as long as I have some time off to go hiking now and again and a break for New Year's Eve, I'll be pretty happy with any schedule you guys come up with."