Daña

Chapter 5 - Breakfast and an Apology

Hey, guys! I just wanted to thank you again for giving my first fiction story a chance and I hope you enjoy it!

————————————————————

At 4:30 in the morning, I finally got up from my curled up position in the corner of the bed. To Kill a Mockingbird fell from my lap as I stood from the bed. After an hour or so of 'pondering', I couldn't stand the questions anymore and pulled my distractions out of my bag. The tattered copies I took with me everywhere were like my second best friends behind Edith. She would be sleeping until at least 5:30, so I had to wait for her to drive me to school. I was not riding on that rotten, old bike this morning.

I tiptoed out of Edith's room and down the staircase to the kitchen. Arturo was already there working on breakfast at the stove in the island with Cheffie.

"Daña! Good morning! Why are up so early, child?" Cheffie called me when he heard my footsteps approaching.

"I couldn't sleep anymore, so I thought I'd grab a bite to eat or something before Edith woke up."

"Well come and join us! We're just making the basics this morning: eggs, bacon, pancakes, waffles, and there is fruit salad in the fridge. I made it last night before I left so the fruit could rest in some sugar."

I smiled a good and genuine smile at Cheffie; he was always so happy, even at the buttcrack of dawn when everyone else is still passed out. My eyes flickered to Arthur who had turned and was looking at me intensely. My nervous eyes fell away from his to the hardwood floors. I tried to cover my anxiety by walking toward the fridge for the fruit salad, but I still wrung my hands until I had the bowl solidly between my fingers.

"Grab out the whipped cream I made, too, please!" Cheffie didn't even turn around from his spot at the waffle maker across the room.

I shook my head and smiled lightly as I did as I was told grabbing the bowl of freshly whipped cream with the salad. I set them on the other half of the island where the pancakes and waffles laid on pretty platters. I quietly sat on one of the stools surround the island and kept my eyes down on the counter.

A few seconds later I sensed movement around the island before a plate filled with eggs and bacon came into my field of vision. I looked up to see Arthur looking down at me with another one of his warm smiles. I even couldn't help my own small smile.

He hesitantly shuffled away from me after he set the plate down. I wonder if his hesitancy was from the way I reacted to him last night.

I didn't sleep at all after our exchange. I was worried about his reaction to me, like whether or not I had pissed him off or upset him in anyway. Really, it was more like I was worrying about whether or not he'd retaliate like my father would. A small voice in the back of my mind told me he wouldn't dare, but I couldn't help my initial reaction. It'd been ingrained in me.

I wrapped my arms around myself and looked at the arrangement of food set on the island around me. It smelled soooooo good, but my stomach could only hold so much: not a lot at all.

Arthur handed me a fork and sat next to me with his own plate and started to pull pancakes and waffles off of the piles in front of us. I merely picked at the eggs. I glanced at him out of the corner of my eye looking for anything that would indicate that he had any ill intentions, but I couldn't find anything inclination of one - and I was an expert at finding them.

Arthur nudged my leg with his knee and offered me another smile - a reassuring one. Maybe I wasn't hiding my worries well enough...

Edith hopped down the stairs into the kitchen moments later.