Rules of Escape

Chapter 24 - Evan

Evan sits in his new bedroom and looks around. The bed is old and hard. He remembers sharing it with Jesse when his family visited in the summer. Two duffel bags, containing all his belongings, lay unopened on the wooden floor near an empty dresser. Sadly, his red chair, his favourite chair, had to stay at his old home. It didn't belong to him; it belonged to Maria to be used in the group homes.

This must be how Grandpa felt going into the retirement home and leaving behind things that were important to him, Evan thinks.

Evan shivers. The room is draughty and the thick curtains do not let in much light. I'll sit here for just a little longer. It's comforting, rocking back and forth on the bed. Just rocking. But rocking like this, is not normal. People look at him strangely when he rocks. He stands up quickly, opens his curtains, and, feeling hungry, decides to go downstairs to see if dinner is ready.

The evening light falls across the patch work quilt on his bed. The squares on the quilt make Evan smile, each piece of fabric is a memory with a story attached to it. At bedtime, Grandma used to point to different squares and tell Jesse and Evan her stories. Evan runs his hand over the quilt, feeling the different fabrics, softened by decades of washing.

Joe looks up from his book as Evan comes into the living room. "I was wondering when you'd finally get hungry," Joe says.

"I'm hungry now," Evan says.

"Well that makes two of us. Jesse put some food in the fridge and cupboards, let's see what he brought us."

The small freezer is well stocked with frozen dinners. The fridge contains a variety of fruits and vegetables, a stick of butter, milk, and juice. In the cupboards, Evan finds Kraft macaroni, jam, peanut butter, and cereal.

"He thinks we're bloody nitwits that don't know how to cook," Joe says. "I knew I should have gone shopping with him. Next time we'll have a list and we'll go with him."

Evan reads the instructions on the Kraft dinner. With pictures for instructions, someone who can't read at all could make it. Pretty simple.

"I can make this," Evan says, holding up a box of Kraft macaroni.

"That's a start, but we also need some meat and vegetables. How about macaroni and two frozen dinners?"

Joe looks through the freezer. He pulls out two frozen dinners. "I'll nuke these, you make the macaroni."

Evan looks at the boxes his grandfather has in his hands. The pictures look great. Meatballs and potatoes and shiny vegetables.

"Ok," Evan says.

Joe hands Evan a pot. Evan fills it with water and places it on the stove. He turns the element on high. Nothing happens. He waits. Still no bubbles. He watches Joe put one of the plastic dishes in the microwave and heat it. Joe takes the food out when the microwave beeps. The food doesn't look like the picture. It is all jumbled together and is mostly potatoes. The plastic dish containing the dinner, bends precariously, flexible after being heated.

Joe puts the second dinner in the microwave and goes to sit in the living room.

"Grandpa!" Evan calls. "Never leave the kitchen if something is turned on."

"I'll hear it beep. It's fine!" Joe calls from the chair where he has returned to read his book.

Evan scratches his head. The microwave is on and the water is finally starting to boil on the stove. Quickly he dumps the noodles in the water. A packet of cheese powder falls into the water as well. "Grandpa!" Evan calls. "The cheese powder fell in!"

"Well get it out," Joe says. "Use a fork."

Evan pulls open drawers until he finds the utensils. He picks out a fork and uses it to pull out the packet. It steams but as it cools, it seems ok. Evan picks up the macaroni package to check the instructions. The microwave beeps. Evan starts to sweat. Focus, he thinks. He hits his head. Focus.

Evan uses the fork to give the noodles a quick stir. He opens the microwave and removes the dinner. The plastic tray twists and thin, gray sauce splashes over, burning Evan's wrist. Evan holds on tight, fighting the desire to throw the whole dish on the floor. He drops it on the counter. The noodles are bubbling over, water sizzling on the stove.

Evan wipes his forehead and stirs the noodles again. They look done. He has forgotten to set the timer.

"Grandpa! I don't know if the noodles are done!"

"Are they soft?"

"Yes."

"Then drain them and turn off the element."

There is no time to check the instructions, so Evan uses the lid to drain off the water. He has watched Peter drain things like this. He puts the pot of drained noodles back on the stove, carefully avoiding the hot element, and checks the directions. He adds water, butter, and the cheese packet to the noodles and stirs.

At quarter past seven, Evan and Joe sit down to eat dinner. Evan watches Joe eat. The microwave dinners are now cold and taste as horrible as they look. The macaroni is watery and overcooked. Joe glances up at Evan.

"Eat!" Joe says. "This is the best dinner I've had in ages."

"Really?"

"This is our first dinner together in our home. It tastes just as I imagined. Fantastic!"

Joe walks over to a cabinet and pulls out a bottle and two glasses. He pours two glasses of scotch and gives one to Evan.

"To freedom," Joe says.

"To freedom," Evan replies.

The phone rings.

"Leave it," Joe says. "We're eating dinner. Whoever it is can call back later or leave a message."

The answering machine clicks on. "Hi. It's Jesse calling. I'm just wondering how you both are doing. I guess you're both outside. Give me a call when you get this message." Evan gets up to answer the phone.

"Sit down," Joe says. "Eat your dinner. You can call him back later."

Evan sits down and tries to eat quickly. Jesse will worry. Phones should always be answered when they ring unless there is a big problem. Evan doesn't want Jesse to think there is a big problem. The phone rings again. Evan looks at his grandpa. Joe takes a sip of his scotch and shakes his head.

"So Evan. Is your room all set up?" Joe asks, ignoring the ringing phone.

Evan is listening to the answering machine. What did Joe just say?

"What?" Evan asks.

"I asked if your room was set up."

"Yes."

The answering machine clicks off and Evan tries to focus on finishing his dinner. What if Grandpa doesn't understand the rules? What if he is wrong about not answering the phone? The phone rings again. Evan stands up.

"I'm done," Evan says.

"Fine answer the phone."

"Hello? This is Evan. I can't answer the phone when we're eating dinner. Grandpa says so."

Evan hears Jesse's laughter and immediately feels better. He isn't in trouble.

"Dude relax," Jesse says. "I was only a little worried, but now I understand. Are you done dinner?"

"Yes, I think so. I just have some strong wine to finish."

"Scotch!" Joe yells out. "We're drinking scotch! Best in the house! Tell Jesse we're doing fine. And thanks for the food he bought!"

"It's actually not too good," Evan whispers into the phone. "The scotch - I think it's gone bad."

"You're drinking scotch? Well, that's just how scotch tastes. It doesn't go bad. You don't have to drink it if you don't like it. Could you ask Grandpa to give me a call when he's done dinner?"

"Sure, Jesse. OK, I'll do that. Thanks, Jesse."