A Kyrie Carter Thanksgiving

Untitled Part 2

Chapter 2

An hour later, we were sitting on the couch, eating Chicken Chow Mein and Rice out of take-out containers. I had given up on the chopsticks after dropping a second piece of chicken onto my shirt, but Spook seemed to be a pro, eating as fast with his chopsticks as I was eating with a fork. He's probably had a lot of practice, I reminded myself, thinking of his near-empty pantry and refrigerator. As if reading my mind, Spook lowered his chopsticks long enough to say, "You know, I don't want to give you the impression that I single-handedly keep all the take-out places in town in business. I do cook, and quite well if I do say so myself."

I gave him a half smile and replied shortly, "I'm sure you do."

Pausing with his chopsticks halfway to his mouth, he glanced sideways at me and challenged, "You don't believe me?"

"No, I believe you," I insisted, staring into the remainder of my Chow Mein for a moment. Making an effort to smirk at him, I added, "You must be such a good cook that you ate your cupboards bare." That sounded really stupid, Kyr, I berated myself, looking away quickly.

Spook chuckled and gazed at me. I was certain he knew I wasn't quite myself, and I was mentally preparing myself for him asking what was wrong. He tipped his head to the side to look more closely at me to ask, "I know you had a rough drive up here. Are you tired?"

"A little," I responded weakly, leaning forward to set my container down and grab my fortune cookie.

"Wait, wait, wait," Spook said excitedly, setting his container down and picking up his fortune cookie too. "I want us to do this at the same time." He grinned at me again. "To make sure our fortunes come true." I giggled and shook my head as he counted down, "Three, two, one, open."

We both broke our fortune cookies and unrolled the scrap of paper. Spook groaned, made a face, and read, "'Someone will invite you to a Karaoke party.' That sounds like a misfortune to me."

"I take it you don't want that one to come true," I joked. He grimaced, and I stifled a laugh, remembering his distaste for Karaoke and recalling his imitation of one of the less talented performers at A Drop in the Bucket last summer. He must have read my thoughts because he suddenly broke out singing, "I Will Survive" in an off-key falsetto, forcing a short laugh from me.

Spook seemed disappointed that he didn't get more of a reaction, but he said nothing. Instead he popped a piece of fortune cookie into his mouth and motioned towards the scrap of paper I was still holding. "So what does yours say?" he asked, leaning back and propping his feet up on the coffee table.

I unfolded mine and glanced at it before reading it aloud. "An exit is sometimes an entrance into new experiences." Immediately thinking about my soon-to-be-eliminated job, I swallowed hard, trying to get rid of the lump in my throat before Spook noticed.

But of course he did. Sitting up quickly, he tossed his fortune onto the coffee table and turned me so I faced him, he ordered gruffly, "Okay, Kyr, spill it. Something's wrong; I could tell when I talked to you last night. Tell me what's going on."

As I saw his eyes full of tender concern, I couldn't keep the tears from falling. This wasn't the way I had planned to tell him, but I supposed it was as good a time as any. "The budget meeting for the library was held yesterday afternoon," I began. "Money has been tight all year, and cuts had to be made somewhere." Spook's expression suggested that he knew where I was headed. "The biggest cut was...my job. They said they can't justify keeping on a children's librarian when they're barely making ends meet." Indignation replaced the concern in his eyes as I finished, "I'll have a job through the end of the month; after that..." I didn't have to finish my thought.