The Hidden Genre (C. H. H. Ain't Dead 01)

chapter fourteen - two days later

MORNING COULDN’T come quicker. Isaac sprang to life before the alarm on his phone did. After prayer, he spent the rest of the morning in the kitchen.

   It wasn’t mother’s day nor Mrs. Banner’s birthday, but she found the smile, the spotlight of her son’s face, contagious. “You making breakfast?” she asked, curious.

   “You better believe it, mom,” replied Isaac placing the plate in front of her, “it's your favorite too.”

   “Bacon, eggs, toasted bread with viennas, and grilled mushrooms,” she looked at him suspiciously. “When did you learn how to grill mushrooms?”

   “Dad taught me a while back,” whenever he needed something, “He said, ‘It worked every time.’”

   “What worked every time?”

   “The way he grilled the mushrooms,” said Isaac nervously as he grabbed a knife and fork.

   “He sure taught you all right,” Mrs. Banner accepted the utensils with a shy smile tugging at her lips in remembrance. Her late husband was everything she wanted in a man, even when he forgot certain details, “You know how I know? Because he always forgot that I preferred juice over coffee with this breakfast.”

   “I’m sorry about that, mom,” he attempted at a stand. “Would you like me to get the juice rather?”

   “No, don't you worry about it,” she ensured him, “just because things don't go the way one prefers it to go, doesn't mean it's the end of the world, son. Now then, shall we eat this delicious looking food in front of us?”

   Breakfast flew by as their mouths were filled with laughter and delicious food. Ivan Banner, her late husband, was a topic she avoided around her son, but today was proof that it no longer had to be that way. They could remember the happiness that the man brought them, rather than dwell on the sadness of missing him.

   “Thank you for this, Isaac. I haven't had this much fun over breakfast since your father was taken.”

   “It's my pleasure, mom. I think we both longed for it.”

   “I think so too, son. I think so too,” said Mrs. Banner, “now onto the discussion.”

   “Discussion?” he tried to sound as innocent as possible. “What discussion?”

   “If the breakfast didn't give it away, then the point of your father saying it worked every time, did.”

   “So you knew this whole time?”

   “Trust me, all parents seeing this play out, knew what was coming, plus, just so you know, it did work every time he did it,” she confessed. “More importantly, what do you need to use the car for this time?”

   Isaac had a playful smile. “It won't be for another trip to Fortuna Island, or anything on such a level. You see, C:map, that guy we heard on the radio, he's having a concert tonight, and I plan on inviting Ruth.”

   “Why don't you ask her right now over the phone?”

   “Because father taught me: when you ask a woman straight to her face, look her in her eyes, and you'll know whether the reply is from the heart or not,” said Isaac, red-faced, “he said he used it on you actually.”

   “I know he did,” she laughed, the comfort of speaking about Ivan, without depression taking hold, continued to please her soul in places she didn’t know mourned for him. “It's so old school, but did he tell you I rejected him that day?”