Nouveau

Chapter 40: Surface Area

        
Laive

"I came in the house the other day man, one o'clock in the morning. She gone send the mothafuckin' six year old downstairs for some milk and cookies. And I'm goin' upstairs, he comin' down. And he gone walk pass me like I'm a visita', yu know. He just gone walk pass me like I ain't shit. I'm baby sittin'. I said where you goin' dude? He say 'Tew get sum milk n' coookies"

Laive was cooking while listening to Bernie Mac's standup comedy station on Pandora. The roast pan was on top of the counter, as she finished washing the raw chicken. The bottom of the copper roast pan was filled with freshly cut red, green, and yellow bell peppers, onions, and celery. Laive sprinkled sea salt, pepper, and Tony Cachere's seasoning salt over the thighs and legs she had just cleaned in the sink. Rubbing the seasoning mixture on the meat, she laughed in anticipation at her favorite upcoming line. "I can't!"

"I said take yo sweet ass ta bed and get some rest!...He gone go upstairs to the room, the 2 year old gone say 'Where the cookies n' shit?' Ya know. He gone tell her 'Him downstairs.' Who da fuck is him? Like I ain't got no name or sumthin'? She gone tell him, 'I go get the shit muhself'..."

Laive cackled as she continued to rub the meat down. She hadn't heard from Tremaine, but she was ok with that. The stress migraines were less frequent when she didn't think about the effed up mess they  created. Laive understood they both contributed. If a relationship was going to happen between the two of them, they had to find a better way to do some things.

Their first problem was revenge. One of them always had to out do the other when they were hurt. This time, L didn't get her hopes up on figuring out how to make them work. If they were done with each other, so be it. Tremaine basically said fuck her anyway. Treating her like some kind of hoe had been all she needed to stay away from him.

You live and you learn.

Carefully placing each piece of poultry on top of the chopped vegetables, Laive added about ¼ cup of flour and enough water to half way fill the pan. The flour let the gravy thicken and brown to avoid being thin like chicken broth. Her grandmother had taught her that. A Kevin Hart stand up began to play as she covered the pan with it's matching top.

"I walk in class Mrs. Green, my teacher. She starts speaking to everybody...She see me she go 'Kevin'. And I go, 'Mrs. Green'. She said 'Did you let your mother read the letter?' I said 'Yes. I. Did.'..."

It was Laive's first time cooking in her condo since she moved in. L was excited that her oven was gas lined, and she finally had the time to use it. The heat wave from the oven made her hold her breath when she opened it. It smacked her in the face like a brick, "Dang! It didn't even have that long to warm up."

"Well uh...My mom told me. To tell you. To mind YO DAMN MOTHA FUCKIN BUSINESS B*TCH. Little stupid b*tch. Little dumb teacher b*tch. Two plus two not knowing what the fuck it is b*tch. Cross eyed crying down ya back, fat foot ass b*tch! Long tidday no nipple havin' ass b*tch!"

Her side hurt from laughing so hard at the audio playing through her speakers. Closing the door to the stove, Laive had three stainless steel pots on the stove top. One was to boil water for her hot water cornbread, the other white rice, and the third was the stew pot full of collard greens with smoked neck bones. Laive had to call her aunt that lived in Los Angeles to find them. Wil didn't know what to look for, and some stores didn't even carry it. That was unheard of where L was from. Everybody had neck bones and ham hocks. Every single last grocery store.

That's LA for you.

The hot water cornbread mixture was almost done as she used her hands to combine the cornmeal, flour, and small amount of sugar. Laive couldn't wait to eat it! It was her favorite and her grandmother's recipe. Her pound cake was cooling on the marble counter top as she searched for a cake plate to empty it in.  Laive rattled through her bottom cabinets, "Now where did I put it?"