Chocolate Sangria by Tracy Price-Thompson

Author:Tracy Price-Thompson [Price-Thompsom, Tracy]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 978-0-307-51729-6
Publisher: Random House Publishing Group
Published: 2003-10-14T16:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER 18

or the first time in her life, Juanita was on punishment. She was too old to spank, but after Saturday's scene in the hallway with Conan, Hattie had grounded her for a week. Shoving the meal she'd been preparing into the refrigerator, Aunt Hattie ranted and raved and forbade her to even speak to Conan, and had promised Juanita she'd call the police on him if he ever darkened her doorway again.

That evening Aunt Hattie had retired to bed early, muttering under her breath with her Bible clutched in her arms, leaving Herbie and Juanita to fend for themselves for dinner. All day Sunday her aunt had remained in her bedroom, fasting and deep in prayer, but to Juanita's surprise, she'd stepped off the elevator Monday afternoon and was greeted by the delicious smells of roasting chicken and candied yams.

“Oh, Auntie!” She dropped her book bag and hugged Hattie around the waist. “You cooked all my favorite things!”

Hattie grunted something under her breath about mannish, disobedient children deserving to eat bread and water, then disappeared into her bedroom, anger stiffening her shoulders and running ramrod down her back.

Even with the tension lingering in the air, Juanita ate up a storm. She washed her hands and fixed heaping plates for herself and Uncle Herbie, the juices in her empty stomach rumbling in anticipation of the hot meal.

In addition to the candied yams and roasted chicken, Aunt Hattie had baked a large pan of macaroni and cheese and stuck her toe in a mean pot of turnip greens. Corn bread, cranberry sauce, and an icy pitcher of fresh lemonade rounded the meal out nicely, and not only did Juanita eat every morsel on her plate, she used her last corner of corn bread to soak up the drops of pot liquor from her greens.

“Whew! That was good!” A bubble of air rushed from her lips, and she blushed and covered her mouth with a napkin. “Oops! Excuse me! I am full.”

Herbie glanced from Juanita's plate to her eyes, and back again. He was surprised at the volume of food she'd consumed, and his eyes silently questioned her over the remnants of their meal.

Ignoring him, Juanita drained the last sip of lemonade from her glass and sucked the melting shards of ice before crunching them noisily between her back teeth. Pouring the last bits of ice into the sink, she went through her normal routine of clearing the table and putting the food away in plastic storage containers, then she stacked the dishes on the counter and ran hot water in the sink, adding a bit of powdered Tide to the cascading water until the bubbles threatened to spill over the sides of the sink and drip down to the floor.

“Go 'head, Uncle Herbie,” she called over her shoulder. “Why don't you go on back with Auntie. I'll wash and dry tonight.” Humming softly to herself, Juanita sank her arms up to the elbows in the warm, sudsy water and methodically washed each dish, pot, glass, and spoon, stacking them neatly in the wire drain to dry.

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