A Tribe United

Chapter 22

"Thank you for breakfast, Joe." Laura said as she gathered her lunch and snack.

"You're welcome." He loved her manners.

"I'll be home around ten. Svetlana gets here at ten forty-five so I'll get her and bring her here. I'll set her up then leave again. We all have things to do after classes so it's just going to be you four here until dinner. Will you be okay?"

"Yeah, I'll be fine. At the very least, you have television."

"Yes, catch up on shows." Laura smiled. "Come on, guys! Let's go!"

ATU

Joe felt someone behind him and turned. "Hello."

Jude waved from where he stood.

"Are you hungry? You slept through breakfast."

Jude thought about it. Marcy wouldn't pluck him from danger just to put him back in it. He nodded and came forward, Yuria clinging to his back.

"Oh, hi." Joe realized these kids were skittish. He wondered what they'd been through. "Are you hungry, too?"

Yuria nodded.

"What would you like? There's lunch items or I could make you something extravagant."

"Can I have a peanut butter and jam sandwich?" Jude mumbled.

"Sure." Joe went to a refrigerator and opened it. "What kind of peanut butter do you like?"

"Crunchy."

"Creamy." Yuria piped up.

Joe took out a jar of Jif's crunchy and a jar of Jif's creamy. He saw the WowButter but knew that was for Marcy and Mal. "What kind of jam?"

"Strawberry." Jude told him.

"Raspberry." Yuria added.

Joe got both jars and closed the refrigerator. He set all four jars on the island top and grabbed the bread. "Is multi grain okay? They don't have anything else."

Both nodded. "That's fine."

Joe grabbed four butter knives and got to work. When he was finished, he cleaned them after cutting the sandwiches diagonally.

Jude and Yuria came closer.

Joe set plates in front of himself and plated the sandwiches. "Would you like fruit?"

"Grapes?" Jude and Yuria asked.

Joe washed off two bunches of grapes and put them on the plates. "What about veggies?"

"What kind do they have?" Jude inched a little closer.

Joe listed the veggies he could have for lunch.

"I'll take Marceline Anne's salad."

Joe got the container out of the refrigerator. "You?"

Yuria nodded as she stepped up behind Jude.

Joe gave them each a serving of the salad before putting it up. "Would you like a fruit cup or pudding cup?"

"What is a pudding cup?" Yuria wanted to know.

"Just a cup of pudding. Pudding is hard to describe but it's really good."

Jude and Yuria looked at each other before looking back at him and nodding. "We'll try both."

Joe listed the different flavors and they chose what they'd like to try. "Do you want chips?"

"Ketchup chips?" Jude hoped.