Hiding The Truth

Dinner Table Drama

The dinner line was long, but moved fairly quickly. Soon the whole quartet had plates piled high with fully dressed hamburgers featuring onion slices, tomatoes and pickles, hotdogs with mustard and pickle relish and sauerkraut, potato salad with bacon and bell pepper chunks mixed in, creamy coleslaw, fried apples, and cool wobbly slices of molded gelatin dessert containing canned fruit cocktail and whipped cream. There was no seating for individual families, only big folding tables arranged in endless rows with benches and pews borrowed from local churches for all the attendees to sit together in groups. Lila saw some of her customers from the diner here and there, but Cam steered them to a table with a couple who appeared younger than Nita but older than Lila, and their three young sons. The oldest boy was about Junior's age, the middle child maybe three years old, and the youngest just a babe in arms.

"Everyone, these are my friends Doctor Skye and Mrs. D'Angelo and their beautiful family." He introduced the couple. Junior and the boy his own age immediately started to chatter over their meals.

"We compromised," Doctor Skye said, "it's Skye professionally and D'Angelo socially. My wife has quite the pedigree, you know." He said by way of correction.

"Well, how shall we call you then, Doctor?" Nita asked.

"I believe it's D'Angelo today, since we're among friends." He smiled.

Cam was a bit surprised. The doctor had a very serious personality, all business, but today he seemed more relaxed than usual.

"No, my precious ones, you must not eat your food until we've said a blessing over it." Mrs D'Angelo addressed the little boys. Her older son hadn't touched his plate, but Junior and the middle child each had a forkful.

Everyone bowed their hands and the Doctor quickly recited the Catholic prayer for meals said around the world. "Bless us, oh Lord, and these thy gifts, which we receive through thy bounty through Christ our Lord. Amen." 

The boys dug into their plates with gusto as Mrs D'Angelo graciously held court over the table. She was quietly assessing everyone the whole time, however, using her Talent of Discernment. The older lady, Nita, was dressed like a working-class White woman. She was probably a secretary or something, Mrs D'Angelo thought, a midlevel bookkeeper perhaps. Something was off about the woman, though. Something not as it seemed. Mrs D'Angelo knew she would figure it out eventually. The knowledge would simply come to her if she didn't focus her mind on it too hard. Turning her eyes to Lila, she Read her like a book. She judged Lila to be deeply insecure and obnoxiously arrogant in equal portions, not particularly well-dressed even for her modest social station in life, showing entirely too much cleavage for what Mrs D'Angelo considered decent taste, and wearing uncomfortable and ill-fitting shoes. Interestingly, the Doctor's wife could tell right away Lila had Talents. She wondered if that was Nita's secret. But no... that didn't feel right. She shook her head. The puzzle would all come together if she just let her Discernment and Intuition work and didn't try to outthink the Lord's gifts.

She crossed herself quickly and said a silent prayer, half apology and half entreaty, "Let me lean not on my own understanding."

Going back to her examination of the group, she noticed little Junior was dressed in clothes perhaps a social stratum or two above his mother. The clothes he wore didn't have designer labels but they were good quality and without patches or loose threads. That must explain the two women's threadbare and faded outfits. They were surely making sacrifices to dress the boy well so he wouldn't be teased in school or treated like poor White trash by his teachers. Perhaps Lila and Nita deserved a touch more respect than she had initially considered. Not much, the D'Angelo's certainly wouldn't be inviting them to any dinner parties, but they rose slightly in her estimation nonetheless.