Olifina: Love And Trouble

17. Rodas

Despite my longing to see Mum, I had no other choice but to sit back and let Dad go alone. I decided to engage myself while I waited. I went down into the kitchen where Rodas was busy preparing lunch.

"Rodas, do you need any help?"

"Yeah..." he replied, "I'm cooking stew. Your dad loves stew right?"

I laughed, "Yes. What do you need me to do?"

"Uh... dice the tomatoes. You can handle that right?"

"Big girl here can handle anything," I replied with a smirk.

He laughed as he dropped a bowl of tomatoes in front of me.

"What do you need this many tomatoes for?" I exclaimed.

"We have an extra person. We won't need the same amount of food."

I gaped at him. Dad's presence did not warrant such an amount of food. Anyway, I took a knife and sat to start dicing the vegetables.

"Who taught you how to cook?"

'My grandma,' Rodas answered without turning from what he was doing.

"My dad taught me how to cook."

'Really?" he turned to face me. "He must be good. I haven't tasted your meal but I bet you're good."

I wouldn't say that for myself.

"How about you cook tomorrow or whenever you're free? I'd like to taste your meal, and I'm sure Oliver would too."

A laugh escaped from me. I loved the record I had already set with Oliver despite all the things going on. You know, it's such a hard thing to be on his good people list after all the troubles I'd put him through.

"I'll pass."

"Come on, don't be a spoilsport," Rodas said with a smile playing at the edge of his lips.

"Honestly, Rodas, I don't want to disappoint you but I also don't want to ruin your taste buds."

"You won't ruin anything. You can do this... don't worry, I'll be there to guide you."

I smiled and quietly stared at him. He looked serious, so I nodded in agreement.

"Woo-hoo! We're finally going to taste Rufina's special," he mused. "So tell me, what are you going to cook for us, huh?"

"It's a secret." Honestly, I didn't have anything in mind.

"Okay... now I'm curious."

"It's been a long I cooked. Like, cook something, not assisting another person in the kitchen."

"Don't worry, tomorrow is your day. You're gonna sharpen those rusted joints!" He joked.

Rodas's laugh was contagious. It was typical for a free-spirited, funky, dude like him. I wondered if he had any friends.

"Rodas, how come I've never seen you with a friend?"

"Oliver doesn't fancy drawing people's attention here. We're trying to keep a low profile as much as possible."

"Oh..." The realization dawned on me. "That's why he doesn't want to involve the police."

Rodas looked at me, curiously. "Police?"

"Yeah, I suggested we report my mum's husband to the police but Oliver did not agree to it."

"Okay. Oliver told me all about it. So what would you guys do then?"

"We're planning on rescuing my mom whenever she's alone at home."

"I don't mean to be pessimistic, but what if the maniac comes back?"