SWNOVELS Chapter Chapter Seven
Chapter 7
Grant pushed the cart along the aisles of the store, humming softly to himself. He had decided to make the final dinner for all eight at Phil’s house to be a blow out. Already he had been to several specialty shops, getting the ingredients he needed to make his ultimate spread. Grant hoped that it would be well received.
Back at Phil’s house, he soaked the wooden skewers and started the coals in the backyard rotisserie grill. Then he started shelling the crabs and lobsters and then peeling the shrimp. Once those were done, he started the water for the clams and worked on making his top secret marinade for the steaks. Baby potatoes, carrots, and pearl onions went into some cold water for a quick rinse and then were set on a large towel to dry. When the water was ready, Grant tossed the clams into the pot and waited for them to cook. He then peeled a couple of mangos, a large pineapple, some oranges, tangerines, and kiwi. Then he cut up the fruit adding some melon balls from cantaloupe, watermelon, and honeydew, then some star fruit, guava, and passion fruit. He topped off the fruit with a special cream cheese, sweet cream, sugar and spices and put it in the fridge to blend.
When the clams were done, he pulled them from the water and dowsed them in cold water to peel the meat from the shells. He rinsed the scallops and then set all the seafood by the vegetables on the table and began putting together kabobs. Once they were done, he rinsed his hands and rinsed the steaks before putting them in the marinade to soak for a couple of hours. Grant then checked the coals and decided they were hot enough and rubbed eight large red potatoes with seasoned butter and wrapped them in foil. He did the same thing to eight ears of sweet white corn on the cob and then took the whole mess to the grill and buried them in the hot coals. Next he put the kabobs on to cook, making sure the rotisserie was working so that one side wouldn’t get done before the others.
Finally, he set the table and started pulling out the corn and the kabobs and setting them in the oven to keep warm. He washed the clam shells and wiped them with a little olive oil and set them by each place setting. Then he mixed up some strawberry daiquiris, pina coladas, and margaritas and put them in the fridge with the fruit mixture. He took a moment to stir the fruit and take a taste of the pineapple and smiled, it would be perfect.
Looking at the time, he deemed it was time to cook the steaks. As he started the steaks, he heard the front door open and close and Jared call out he was home. He set the meat on the grill and let the coals do their magic. Jared poked his head out and grinned.
“Smells good, Bro, what’s the occasion?” Jared held the bowl for Grant as he pulled the now finished baked potatoes from the coals. “I haven’t seen you knock yourself out for a spread this good since our combined family picnic two years ago.”
“Debra left me some money and said impress her….well….not in so many words. And since this will be our last night all here together at Phil’s, I thought something extra special. Think I went over board?” Grant said, flipping the steaks for the first time, making the wonderful grill marks of a fancy steakhouse.
“Naw, I think it’s perfect.” Jared said and then took the bowl into the kitchen as Emily and Karen came in together. They were followed a few seconds later by Darin and Mike. The four appeared to be in the middle of some fight.
“Why shouldn’t you be allowed a say in which furnishings go in the living room, you’ll be living there too for a couple of months at least.” Karen was saying, throwing evil looks over her shoulder at the two boys.
“Because, Karen, we figured she would be spending most of her time over with you and Debra at your place. Why should she ruin our bachelor pad with girlish stuff.” Mike was replying.
“Well, duh, maybe because she’s not going to be living with me and Debra, Michael. And just maybe she wants to be able to have other friends over to where she is living without having them think she doesn’t live there.” Karen answered, slugging him in the shoulder.
Darin and Emily just looked at the two of them and silently agreed to keep the stuff their dad had set up in the condo. After all, in a few months, he would want it back.
Phil chose that moment to come home and he didn’t look too happy. He took a moment to note who was where, frown that Debra wasn’t there, and then storm into his home office and slam the door shut. The other six exchanged a look, wondering if tonight would be a repeat of last night. Then Grant went back to cooking and Emily and Karen headed upstairs to clean up their mess in preparation for moving in the morning.
Just as Grant was about to give up on Debra getting home, she came walking through the backyard, looking rather tired. She smiled at him as he started taking steaks off the grill. “Those look wonderful, Grant. I hope one is rare, I really don’t like well-done steak.”
“Of course they are rare; I wouldn’t profane a steak by over cooking it. I would ask how your day went but I can tell you are tired. Anything I can help with?” Grant asked, walking into the kitchen with Debra and setting the meat in the center of the table. Then he started pulling out the kabobs, potatoes, corn on the cob, and fruit salad. As he kept adding wonderful looking and smelling food, the others filtered into the kitchen to eat.
Phil was the last to join them, checking at the door when he saw Debra sitting already, and took his place. Debra waited until everyone had a full plate and then opened her mouth. “Thank you, Grant, for this wonderful meal. It makes my humble offering yesterday seem common.” She waited a moment while everyone disagreed and then started again. “I guess tonight is the last night we are all going to be living under one roof. I’m sure Phil will be glad to have his house back, just as I’m sure all of us are looking forward to starting over in new places of our own. I’m not sure how this is going to affect the Circle, but I think we need to plan some kind agreement to meet at least once a week so the bond between all of us isn’t allowed to thin and break as our daily lives take over. What do you all think?”
Debra savored a piece of lobster off of the kabob, enjoying the rich taste of the meat and the clarified butter Grant had made as they melted against her tongue. She then cut a piece of her steak, dipped it in the juices flowing around the bottom of her plate and closed her eyes to enjoy the marriage of flavors inside her mouth. “Damn, Grant, I think I’ve died and gone to heaven.” Debra said reverently.
Jared chuckled and slapped Grant on the back. “Yes sir, Grant, you have certainly outdone yourself. And I agree, Debra, we do need to keep close contact with each other and not let the mundane parts of life get in the way of our true mission.”
“And what would that be?” Darin asked, for the first time really wondering what it was they had all gotten themselves in for.
“That would be doing what we can to keep the people of this world safe, just as Tris and her Circle are doing on Sandeenai. Granted, we can’t be as open as Tris and the others and we aren’t facing a world dictator. But we do have terrorist groups, natural disasters, and some just plain evil people out there intent on causing as much damage as possible to life as we know it. I don’t believe we should get involved in governmental disputes, which doesn’t fall under our job description. I also don’t believe we should get involved in wars, unless they are apocalyptic and will destroy the world as we know it. But that’s just my opinion.” Phil said, taking a large bite of the fruit salad.
Debra pointed her fork at Phil, her mouth full at the moment and chewed quickly. “Don’t choke yourself trying to get a word out, Leader Deb, I can take it from the head nods you agree with what Phil said and that is to be our credo. ‘Defend those who can’t defend themselves.’ Is that about right?” Mike said, and then shoveled a huge piece of steak in his mouth.
Nodding, Debra slowed down her chewing to enjoy the meat, not just fill her belly. Phil smiled at her and took a bite of his own steak. Emily set down her fork and knife and looked at everyone. “Does that mean every time some little upstart decides to rob a bank or a gang war erupts we have to step in?”
Karen answered before Debra could even swallow the bite she had in her mouth from Phil’s statement. “I wouldn’t think so. We have police, let them do their jobs. We will step in when it’s terrorists or natural disasters, like Phil said. I also think we should look at hostage situations and search and rescue on a large scale. But there are people out there trained for most of this, we will just be a little better and faster and have a different kind of arsenal. We shouldn’t be taking their jobs from them.”
“Sounds reasonable, I guess. I was just worried that we wouldn’t be allowed any kind of personal life because every time we heard a siren we would have to drop what we were doing and run to the rescue.” Emily said and then picked up her fork and knife and started eating again.
Jared finished his bite and added his two cents. “I also think that if we are in a position to help the police with whatever, and it doesn’t draw attention to us, we can step in and help, on an individual basis. I mean, if I’m at the store and someone comes in to rob it, I’m not going to just sit around and wait for the police; I’m going to deal with it then and there.”
“I agree with Jared. I’m not going to go out of my way to show up the cops, but I’m not going just let crime happen if I can stop it. It just doesn’t feel right.” Darin said, and then looked to Debra. “What do you think?”
Debra finished what she was eating and met all of their eyes. “This is why we are a Circle, each with a job to do and an opinion to add. I agree with it all. We can’t put our lives on hold be the next superhero phenomenon, but at the same time, we can’t just sit by and not do anything if we are first hand witnesses. I also agree with the events that should cause us to drop everything and spring into action. Natural and unnatural disasters are something we should respond to as well as hostage situations, terrorist situations, and such. If we can go in, spare the lives of those who otherwise would be lost, then we should do it. And everyone’s input is important; it shouldn’t just be my ideas. If we did that within a month you would all be revolting against my leadership because I would be like a dictator. So I’m not going to be making all the decisions, which will lie mostly in your hands. I’ll just sorta….stand back and direct and when the need calls, get everyone to the right place at the right time.” Debra wrinkled her nose. “I’ve never really been big into power trips.”
Karen laughed and patted Debra on the back. “That’s good, because I am. And I will try not to be too bossy when I feel strongly about something.”
“Yes, Karen, we all know how you can be when you feel strongly about something.” Phil said dryly and then turned to the others. “So, what are the plans for tomorrow?”
“Darin, Mike, and I are taking what we have here to my dad’s condo in Studio City, then we will be pretty much done. I spent most of today cleaning up what mess there was from the quake. I got new sheets and a couple new pillows and some clothes and that’s all we need. Mike and Darin stocked it with food and replaced the broken dishes. So we will be free to help whomever after lunch tomorrow.” Emily said, pushing away her plate and groaning with pleasure. “God, what a spread! Thanks, Grant.”
Phil nodded and looked to Grant and Jared. Grant just shrugged; he had spent all day here cooking and hadn’t really thought about the move that was supposed to happen in the morning. He looked over at Jared for him to answer.
Jared cleared his throat and pushed his plate away, also sated. “Well, I signed the final paperwork today and have the keys. I stopped by a couple of stores and we are having beds delivered to the apartment at 11 am. The living room and dining room sets are being delivered at 2:30 and the entertainment center at 5 pm. The phone, cable and internet connections will be turned on by 7 pm and power and water are already on. I haven’t had a chance to plan things out with Grant, but I thought he could hit the stores to stock the shelves, get dishes, towels, that sort of stuff while I waited around for all the deliveries.” Grant nodded and started jotting down a list of items to get besides food to help make the place livable.
“I guess that leaves Deb and me.” Karen said, thinking about it a moment. “I really haven’t done anything other than sign the papers this morning and pick up the keys. I handed those over to Debra and she took care of the details. I plan on getting my things out of here first thing in the morning and spending the day just wandering around the condo, checking the place out.”
“I suppose it’s a good thing that I did take care of the details, eh, Karen?” Debra grinned. “Power, water, phone, cable, and internet were turned on this afternoon. Our phone number is 555-8614, and the condo is number 216. And thanks to plastic and fantastic credit, we also have furniture being delivered tomorrow. A couple of bedroom suites, a dining set, a living room suite, two home office desks and shelves, and complete electronic systems to go with the full wall built in entertainment center. It will probably take me three years to pay for all the stuff, but it will be nice by tomorrow night. I contacted Kim and after my call the day after the quake, she’s boxed up all my stuff and will ship it tomorrow. I should be getting that in five to seven days, depending on ground traffic.”
“Well, it sounds like everyone has things under control. I would like to propose we meet Saturday afternoon, about 3ish and go see a movie, my treat, and catch some dinner, also my treat.” Phil said, lifting a hand in question to everyone. It was unanimous, Friday would be moving and settling in day and Saturday would be celebrating once again being independent.
Chaos shook his head. It seemed too banal, the way everything was taken care of so neatly. Yes, it was nice to have them settled, but it seemed too pat, something had to go wrong or it would totally ruin his faith in Sheagnek’s whimsy and fate. He started to pace, wondering just what he could do to disrupt their nice, neat, tidy plans.
Snapping his fingers, he summoned Dreybrenic to his chambers. Waiting for a few moments, he didn’t really stop to consider the outcome of his actions; he just knew he needed to stir things up.