TWO MONTHS LATER
Frank stands at the kitchen stove. Bacon sizzles in the black cast iron skillet that Momma used to use. Frank spears the bacon with a fork and sets it on a nearby plate. The trick is to use the same pan to make the scrambled eggs. Frank cracks in six eggs one by one into the skillet.
"I don't know, Frank, I feel like that's a little gross to be cooking those eggs in the same pan that the bacon was just in," Melissa says skeptically.
Frank gives Melissa the side-eye."That's the secret, girl! You need to use the same skillet! The grease is what gives the eggs an extra flavor oomph!"
"So is that what we're doing now? Makin' this a Saturday tradition, are we?" Maddie questions as she enters the room slowly, scooting their walker along the way. Melissa sees Maddie entering the room and quickly beats Maddie to the dining room table to pull out their chair for them.
"Actin' like a true gentlemen, I mean, woman," Frank says, referring to Melissa's action.
"Just acting like a decent person doing anything for the person she loves," Melissa says, winking at Maddie.
Maddie giggles, snorting in the process. "Well, sir. You're too kind," they say, joking.
Frank scrambles the eggs as the timer for the oven beeps. Melissa pulls out a tray full of fresh biscuits from the oven. Maddie sticks their nose in the air and inhales.
"That's my favorite part," Maddie whispers to themselves.
Melissa sets down the tray and goes to the refrigerator to grab the blackberry jam. She takes the biscuits off of the tray, jumping every time she grabs a fresh one and tosses them in a wicker table basket with a napkin in it. She brings all of it to the table.
"Careful, they're hot!" Melissa exclaims.
"Nah, really? I couldn't tell from your dance moves over there," Maddie says. Their sarcasm making both Melissa and Frank chuckle.
"We wanted to make you a big breakfast to celebrate the fact that you are out of therapy, honey," Frank states as he brings over two large plates filled with eggs and bacon to the table. Melissa sets out three plates from the cabinet.
"I'm still in physical therapy, you know, so I'm not really out of therapy yet," Maddie corrects Frank. They're still skeptical of everything: Frank's behavior, Melissa and Frank's weird-ass relationship, and what this means for their future.
"Well, you're out of the hospital and rehab!" Melissa exclaimed. "Honestly, a little extra outpatient physical therapy isn't something that should hold us back from celebrating, should it now?"
'Well, I guess not," Maddie says under their breath.
Maddie, Melissa, and Frank all took turns with each platter, piling on the food in every nook and cranny of their plates. They all look at each other, nod their heads, and began eating. All Maddie could think about is how much better this breakfast is than the breakfasts at the hospital and rehab center. Nothing beats scrambled eggs made in the same skillet as the bacon. Maddie thinks that Melissa is crazy and has no idea what she's talking about. If Frank knows one thing, it's the secrets of how to use leftover grease to make any other food taste better.
The silence that fills the room disappears by the dinging of the silverware on half-empty plates and the chomping of those with satisfied bellies. Frank finishes first, wiping his mouth with a ripped paper towel.
"So, Mad. You, um, gotta letter while you were out," Frank says, clearing his throat in the process.
Maddie looks at Frank and back and Melissa.
YOU ARE READING
SPASE
FantasíaSeventeen-year-old non-binary artist, Maddie, wrestles their own personal demons every day: an alcoholic father, a dead mother, bullies, and their impending future. They have their friends, Nick and Melissa, for support but something is still missin...
