All That Glitters

Spiraling

By now the sun had gone down almost an hour ago. The Pogues were famished out of their minds. John B didn't exactly have any food in his house. Just some cereal and various other things. Nothing that would be sufficient for four people. Three of which were hungry teen boys.

Kie suggested they all hit up The Wreck, her family's restaurant near close to see if there was any leftovers that would go bad if they weren't consumed that day. The boys excitedly jumped inside the Twinkie.

It was practically the longest ten minute ride of their life.

"God, stealing a drone really makes you hungry." Kie whispered while holding her stomach.

JJ slid the Twinkie's door open, "What I would do to a beer and a shrimp and grits right now." Pope followed him out.

"It would not be pretty." He finished JJ's thought.

Inside The Wreck, it was lit by various strategically placed lanterns imitating the like of candle light with its warm glow. Kie ran straight toward her dad with a smile.

She had this whole thing planned out. Mastermind Kie and her three hungry delinquant goons. Her father never stood a chance. He gripped her tight and whispered about how lucky she was that it was close so he was gonna have to throw away most of the food. She graciously thanked him like she hadn't known already.

She gave the boys a thumbs up and pulled out some napkins and cups for them.

There really was nothing quite like The Wreck's seasoned fries and sandwiches. Not even knocking on the same door as her father's secret recipe grits. She'd been told long ago that the secret ingredient was nothing more than a spoonful of love. Simple but effective. But even after she'd learned how to make it, it never quite came out as smooth or as tasty as her fathers. So learning what the secret ingredient was hadn't changed the fact that her father was basically a god in the kitchen.

That reflected in everything he made.

The Pogues cleared house, taking most of the scraps and even offering to help take out the trash when they were finished. Mr. C just laughed and explained that if they wanted free food, offering to do some work to make his life easier was the way to get it. Even if he wasn't exactly the biggest fan of Kie's choice of friends.

They all had a ball. Kie got up to dance to whatever song was playing on the tiny radio her dad had set up while the power was out part way through their dinner fiesta. She motioned for John B to join her. And he did. Reluctantly since JJ's words were kinda stuck in his mind now. But damn if it didn't feel good to just move around. JJ clapped along to the music with a mouthful of fries. Pope just watched from the counter, downing bowl after bowl of grits.

Kie helped clean up the most since she actually knew what to do. JJ tried to help but she banned him from helping as soon as she caught him licking plates. John B took care of their trash and most of the restaurant's trash. Pope hung back and decided to sweep the whole store.

The whole thing wasn't that bad if Kie's dad was serious about the whole free food thing.

Kie kissed her fathers cheek and told him she would be sleeping over at the Chateau again and that she'd call in the morning to let them know if she was gonna be back that day. He let her go with a furrowed brow and a hand over his heart.

"I could get used to this." JJ said, patting his belly.

"We're testing the drone tomorrow?" Kie asked.

John B twisted the Twinkie to life and nodded. "Yeah. If that's cool with all of you?"

Pope was clonked out. Food coma style. JJ perked up and gave a big okay sign. Opting to just lay back and spend the ride back digesting the copious amount of food he'd just consumed.