#120
Reva whirled around, shook Don's hand off her arm and snarled. "Get out of the kitchen, stay out and leave me alone. I won't repeat myself."
Don let his hand fall as he stepped back. "I'm sorry, I...…. I was only trying to help." he finished lamely.
"You are not helping," Reva enunciated carefully. "The time I spend arguing with you is time I should be using to work. I am paid for my housekeeping, cooking and cleaning; you interfere with my duties every time I turn around. I don't want to lose this job, I need it. I can't make it any clearer, do you understand?"
"Yes, I do." Don was a picture of contriteness. "Is there anything I can do to help?"
"You can find a way to lock the pantry door so we can have our food secure. I don't care how much food I have to cook, my job is to feed hungry people and make them comfortable. I like to do that," Reva stressed, "but if Doc Trish and I expect food to be available, and it's not there, it takes a long time to cook and make more. That upsets everyone and it especially makes me look bad , as an incompetent cook."
Reva was all fired up, and Don felt a moment of shame. He hadn't looked at the problem from her point of view, and she was reasonable and spot on with her assessment. Incompetent was exactly the way he had first thought of her.
Reva went over to stir the pot of cooking rice, moving it to a slightly cooler spot on the stove. She had to watch it closely as she was trying to evaporate out the excess water, to make the rice more firm. From the pot of bones set on the back of the stove, Reva ladled out several scoops of bone broth and placed it in a saucepan, stirring together flour and cold water, she added it to the pan of heating broth.
Tasting the gravy with a small spoon, she added salt and pepper, a cut up onion and a sliced clove of garlic. Adding more bone broth as the mixture began to thicken, keeping it on the runny side until it naturally thickened, repeating, until there was quite a pan full of gravy.
Don was watching silently, finally understanding that Reva was far more accomplished in her craft than he gave her credit for. Nodding to himself, he stared at the pantry door, running several ideas for a secure closing through his mind.
Reva set the table, and turned to ask Don if he would call the family up to eat; and help Doc Bruce up the stairs.
The bowls of rice with gravy were oddly satisfying, more filling than some of the other meals had been. Tony and Eddie seemed to be full, had to rest before finishing the over large bowl of food. Don himself felt very full, a surprise to him.
While the family was eating, Reva was busy with the enormous pile of dirty dishes. Bruce looked at the dishes and asked the unwanted question. "Where did all these dishes come from?"
Tony and Eddie were pictures of innocent boyish charm. "Gosh Dad, from our room I guess. We didn't realize we had so many up there. Miss Reva told us not to do that, that it would draw mice." Tony hastened to be the picture of regret, and hopeful promise that he and Eddie would do better.
Bruce felt the cold chill of a young boy snow job and shook his head no. "The next time that happens, you two will do the dishes," he firmly declared. "In fact, both of you grab a dish towel and start drying."
Tony hopped too, smart enough to know they were getting a light sentence. Ton y had to whine a little and suddenly Bruce said, "Tony, for trying to weasel out of work tonight, you will dry dishes for the rest of the week."
Tony went to pucker up and let out a big whine, and Bruce said, "say one word and that's another week's worth."
Tony snapped his mouth shut.
"If any dishes break, that's gonna be a whipping," Bruce added, correctly reading the look on Tony's face.
Tony puckered up his lips, but went silently to take the dish towel Reva was holding out for him.
Trish sat back in her chair with her cup of tea and sighed in weariness. Reva was a heaven sent answer to a problem, and it looked to Trish, that the housekeeper had managed to straighten out Don's notions for the better.
Don was silent, not offering any opinions or snide remarks; and Trish appreciated the harmony. "I don't believe we need to sleep downstairs, this darkness isn't the usual severe weather event. This is something else. I wish I had Clora's intuition, it would be handy to know where this is going."
Bruce nodded, helping himself to another couple of spoonful's of rice and gravy. Eating quietly, Bruce ate almost all the rice with the venison based gravy. "Good grub," he called out to Reva, "thank you for making so much, I have been so hungry, and now I'm full."
"You're welcome," Reva smiled, "I like to cook for hungry people." she turned back to the dishes and felt happiness for the calm, normal after supper talk around the table.
Toby and Rennie listened to TJ scream and cry for hours. The two adults looked at each other, understanding that the reaction was not normal. "He's deeply disturbed," Rennie spoke up. "Toby, what kind of help can we get for him. I'm definite that he can't stay here with Barry and Lyric. The only solution I can come up with, is that you will have to stay with TJ, away from us."
"I had thought of that, but didn't want to suggest it. I don't like the idea, but I have no other solution." Toby sighed hard, as he listened to TJ lie on the floor and kick his feet hard on the door..