SEASON 1 PART 25

[10/31/17-COOKBOOK RELEASE DAY]

"Cookbook available for purchase now!!! Signing tonight at Balconi Coffee Company from 5:00 pm-7:00 pm! Be there!"

It was the announcement that Deja waiting to make for several months. After getting the kids off to school, she returned home, leaving her students with busy work to do. Quincy had just gone to work and she got a box of her books ready to bring to tonight's event. With her Halloween gathering planned for her children, nieces, and nephews, she went to the grocery store for some hot dog items. Yvonne would be making the chili, while Clarissa would be bringing a punch. She returned home and made a cheese dip for nachos and baked a cake. Her state of being could be described as excitement and nervousness. She hoped to sell some books. With the help of her sisters and Facebook, she had gotten the word around about her release and the signing. She had been talking about it for the last couple of weeks. Her kids and husband were probably annoyed with the talk of it, but tonight was the night. Deja would be bringing her mom as well. Faye had even convinced Clarisse to attend.

Abram was in town for this affair as well. After sharing re-sharing the message from his aunt on his Facebook page, he went for a short run. The boardwalk was his favorite place to job because of the view. Being a people watcher it was easy to wave and observe others. Finishing up his run, he decided to stop for a smoothie before heading home. He took a shower, stayed home for about an hour and then headed back up with his book bag to put in some study hours at the library. With Zach at school, both of his parents at work, he had the house to himself, allowing him to prolong his shower for longer than he typically took them. He put on his bathrobe upon drying off and turned on the TV. He watched TV until about 11:00 am before putting on a pair of khaki's and a yellow polo, grabbed his book bag, and headed to the library to put in some time to study. He knew he was going to be gone until the following morning and he committed to keeping his studies up. Beginning with his business course, he begin answering questions to his study guide. During his time at the library, he made note cards, reviewed a power point, and printed a practice exam. This was his first semester and he was taking some core classes giving him a little more leeway to be absent. He knew that this would not be the case beginning with his sophomore year.

Not wanting to go home yet, he passed by his mom's office.
"Knock knock"

"Look at you , college student, with your bag"
"College is a 24/7 thing. Just don't get paid much for it"
"Me and your aunt Deja are about to go to lunch. Why don't you come?"
"Okay"
"Just give me a few minutes to get this done and I'll see you outside"
"Works for me. I'm gonna make a quick restroom run"

At the restaurant, they met Deja who was already sitting down. "Damn" Yvonne said, "how'd you beat me here?"

"Hey Abe" Deja said as she took a sip of her water.

YVONNE-"Got you an ice tea sis"
DEJA-"Thank you"
YVONNE-"What would you like son?"
ABRAM-"Lemonade"
YVONNE-"So Dee, how many your expecting to see tonight?"
DEJA-"I have no idea. I've told my coworkers, had Malachi putting up flyers over the weekend. The principal even made an announcement. Clarissa talked about it on her last podcast."
YVONNE-"You need to update your profile to include 'Teacher', 'essayist', 'historian' and now you can add 'author'"
DEJA-"I need to add 'doctoral student' to that list. I start classes in the spring!"
YVONNE-"Get out!!! Where"
DEJA-"UCLA. I am pursuing a doctorate in education. Gonna do some research on the side"
YVONNE-"Well good for you"
ABRAM-"That's great aunt Dee"
DEJA-"I'm hoping that I can begin teaching adjunct at the college level. I need to make some extra money. Teacher salaries are not the best, but I love what I do."

Eventually the waitress took their orders, and refilled their drinks.

ABRAM-"So what did you put in the cookbook?"
DEJA-"The chocolate sheet cake, gumbo, cobbler."
ABRAM-"You gonna make one of these deserts at the next family dinner?"
DEJA-"My son is asking me to make the sheet cake"
YVONNE-"I gotta get my signed copy tonight"
ABRAM-"Ditto. I'm be getting mine tonight. So that's two buyers right there."
DEJA-"I'm working with other small bookstores in the area to get it on their shelves. "
ABRAM-"Is Miriam gonna come tonight?"
YVONNE-"She better, I told h/wer this weekend to make plans to be there."

Lunch date was roughly two hours before Deja had to get back home. "See you tonight ma'am".

"Walk out w/ me son" Yvonne said as she paid the bill. "Okay, I'm gonna go home, hit the couch, watch some TV."

"Okay, I'll see you this evening"

At the university, Clarissa was in the middle of a lecture on United States extremists groups. Extremism as it relates to politics. After an introductory lecture, there was room for discussion. One student bought of the movement of BLM.

CLARISSA-"Well lets talk about it"
STUDENT 1-"Okay, and forgive me if I'm misguided"
CLARISSA-"This is college, we can discuss like adults"
STUDENT 1-"BLM just seems sort of divisive to me. Black lives aren't the only one's at stake."
STUDENT 2-"All lives do matter, but black lives are being treated as if they don't. Hence the movement"
STUDENT 1-"Mainstream media only shows you the worse and only tells part of the story. They rarely report white victims"
STUDENT 2-"Law enforcement knows how to not take a life when they wish not to"
CLARISSA-"When a white person is killed by a black individual, that individual is typically dealt with right away. Locked up right away. Rightfully so, I may add, but the response is swift"
STUDENT 3-"My dad is a police officer and he often feels lumped in with the few that do. There are places that he won't even go in Uniform because he doesn't want to intimidate the customers that may be there"
CLARISSA-"City, County, State trooper?"
STUDENT 3-"He works for the city."
STUDENT 1-"Have you seen the crime rate for black people?"
CLARISSA-"Data reports can be biased, and the majority of those victims happen to be other black people. I'd go as far as to say that they don't represent most black people"
STUDENT 1-"Profiling sucks, it's unfair, however the data suggest that it's warranted."
STUDENT 2-"But is it? Has it reduced crime?"
STUDENT 1-"No, but do you have another solution?"
CLARISSA-"Poor areas have high crime rates regardless of ethnicity. It's a survival technique. I grew up in an upper middle class community, however we weren't far from a low income community. We saw the reports of the crime there. It was scary, and it's typically a few who terrorize the community for the majority."
STUDENT 2-"I grew up in South Central. I'm only the second one in my family to go beyond high school. I'm living on campus here on an athletic scholarship. I'm glad to have gotten out of there, but I realize that things could change in an instant and that somehow I find myself back there."
STUDENT 3-"My dad works in many of these communities, and sometimes mom worries for his safety. He's saved several lives."
CLARISSA-"News sources, be they conservative or liberal will only tell you what they want you to hear. Which is why it's good to have multiple sources for your information."

Class had come to an end when Clarissa made the announcement reminding the students that their exam would be next week and that next class period they would also receive the guidelines for the research paper.

"You're study guide will be posted by the end of today and your guide lines along with the rubric will be posted within an hour"

Clarissa spend the next hour or so in her office before she left for the day. She went to the grocery store and got items for her punch and met her sister who was at home sitting at the kitchen counter killing time before it was time to pick her kids up.

CLARISSA-"Long day?"
DEJA-"It was okay."
CLARISSA-"Got the stuff for tonight. Got sherbet, sprite, got sunny D. Gonna make two punches"
DEJA-"Before you start, how about you ride w/ me while I go get the kids"
CLARISSA-"That'll work"
DEJA-"Faye's gonna be here around 6:00. She's bringing her four"
CLARISSA-"Aww that's nice"

Deja switched the topic to the conversation of their family in Sacramento. "Yvonne told me that she talked with Denise recently. I'll have to send her a copy of the book"

CLARISSA-"I got the place. We are going to Colorado over the Christmas break."
DEJA-"Flying? Driving?"
CLARISSA-"Drive."
DEJA-"I mapped out how long of a drive  that would be."

"My kids are 16 and 13, they'll be alright" Clarissa said as she poured the rainbow sherbet that she bought into a bowl topping it with sprite.

"Maybe yours, but mine, especially Junior." Deja responded, "He's gonna lose his mind. Maybe I can talk Faye into having them ride with us. Malachi is typically in his own little world. Aundrea, sleeps most of the ride"

Eventually they went to pick up Deja's kids from school. Leaving early, they figured, they'd beat the traffic because it typically wasn't long before traffic backed up. "Quincy was doing this for a while and I'm typically at work so, this is new" Managing to get to the site of the school early, they were able to observe the growing volume of traffic that would be behind them. "Damn!", Clarissa said was she looked in the rear view mirror. "Good thing you left when you did. Do they know your coming?"

"Yeah, and they'll walk across the street".  They sat in the car for about 15 minutes before Malachi and Aundrea came out.  "Hey kids" Clarissa said as they got in the car.

"Hey aunt Clarissa" Aundrea said, "Your aunt is helping me get ready for tonight. She took off a bit early."
"Oh. Okay"
"Any homework?" Deja asked?
"Not too much." Malachi said as he put on his seatbelt.
"Good.  I need y'all to get to it as soon as we get home. I want you to be able to enjoy tonight."
After they picked up QJ, who was sitting outside with Ezra. "See ya tonight Ez." They went home where all the kids went to their rooms. QJ, pulled out his workbook and begin working on a Language assignment. As he was working, he heard a knock on the door.

QJ-"Come in."
DEJA-"Hey son. What are you working on?"
QJ-"Some language homework. Gotta do these two pages right here."
DEJA-"Mind if I take a look?"
QJ-"Sure"

She looked thoroughly at his homework and what he was doing. "So far so good, though in this sentence, the predicate is that word right here"

QJ-"Thanks!" he said, erasing his error.
DEJA-"Well I've got to get back to the kitchen. Remember we in a little bit. You may have to bring some of this with you"
QJ-"Got it."

They resumed the conversation, "Denise is looking forward to seeing us"
"Her grandkids are young" Deja said
CLARISSA-"Yeah, the oldest one is around Junior's age. Give or take a few months"
DEJA-"I'm looking forward to the cabin by the lake, snow, eating s'mores. Having a cup of hot chocolate on a cold day"
CLARISSA-"White chocolate"
DEJA-"Now we're talking"
CLARISSA-"I'm thinking more along the lines of eggnog"
DEJA-"No eggnog for me."
CLARISSA-"Homemade, not that shit from the store."
DEJA-Damn right, that stuff is terrible!
CLARISSA-"This don't wear you out?"
DEJA-"It's tiresome, but it's something for the kids to do. Plus, one of the few nights that they really pig out on food that isn't good for them. I enjoy it. It's nice to see the cousins together on that night. Sometimes they'll invite their friends. I'd rather them be over here instead of a party that I can't see what's going on."
CLARISSA-"Girl, this would have been heaven on earth growing up"

As the time got closer to the signing and the kids were finishing up their homework Deja grabbed a box of books and put them in her car. She yelled for the kids to get ready, while Quincy decided to leave and head to the coffeeshop immediately following work.

"Let me text Brandi"
DEJA-"You got her a phone?"
"Basic phone for texting purposes. Telling her to head out"

[SIGNING]

The coffeeshop could be described as quaint but lively. There were a few patrons in the store getting coffee when Deja arrived. She asked the kids if they wanted anything to drink before ordering a vanilla latte. They finished up the last of their schoolwork before the rest of the family arrived.  Deja conversed with coffeehouse patrons while as she sipped her coffee, who reviewed her book, she had a few buyers within first hour. The book was rather cheep compared to the price that others would charge. She didn't sell out, however she sold about 25% of her box. She switched seats and relocated to the couch while Ian and Malachi took the booth that she was sitting in. Eventually she came in contact with a  man and his wife regarding the book. As they talked, he later revealed himself to be the  brother of one of her coworkers who had tasted a baked good that Deja's coworker shared elsewhere. "I came to a banquet that you made those bite sized pecan pies one year. It's so hard to find a good pecan pie out here"

"My summers as a little girl, this was a favorite past time. My aunt lived in Louisiana and we visited for two weeks every summer. With her recently passing away, it was a way for me to introduce my kids to that part of my life and perhaps encourage them to embrace that part of their life."
"I grew up out here, however my uncle lives in South Carolina. We rarely went down there, however he visited us every summer. We always looked forward to the southern cooking when he'd come. Smothered steak, fried chicken, fig preserve on biscuits. You get the idea"
"My aunt was like that too, depending on what she cooked, it was a certain desert she'd serve with her meal. If she was frying something, she usually had a pound cake on the side. On the other hand, when she barbecued or smothered, it was usually pie."
"I'm looking at this chocolate sheet cake recipe."
"That was one of my faves. She'd serve that whenever she made a shrimp etouffee. It has a bit of cinnamon in it.  My oldest sister and I would find ourselves fighting over it. She'd eat half the pan"

They laughed as she made  sale on the book. "Let me get a copy for her too"
"Thanks so much"
"You ever consider selling your goods at one of the festivals out here? You could make a killing."
 "I haven't. I need to see how I'd get around to doing that. If this book goes well, maybe so. My son is asking me to make the sheet cake one day. That's him in the blue jeans and the 'peace' t-shirt. I have him and my other two are over there, sitting in the back. My sisters have their kids over there too"
"So your aunt...."
"She passed away this summer and I went back down there for the first time in a few years. We went for about a week. I'd like to bring my kids down there next summer."
They chatted between coffee and signing books when Junior asked him mom for a soda.
"Sure honey, get Darius something too"
"Thanks mom"

The second hour of the signing, Deja introduced her mom and her aunt. During this time, she took time to thank her sisters for showing up as well as a few of her coworkers. There were also some who came via word of mouth from her coworkers that she didn't know.  She talked about their reunion through a crazy turn of events. "Through my cousin in Louisiana, I found out that I had a cousin living in Long Beach, who I would later find out is my first cousin. My mom's niece."

ATTENDEE-"I'm going to have to try this gumbo recipe over the holidays. We have a place in Vermont that we go during the christmas break"

DEJA-"That sounds great. I'm going to Colorado this Christmas. It's a first time for me. You'll have to shoot me a message. I've got my email address in the back of the book. Let me know how it comes out. "

As she was conversing with patrons, Malachi went outside with Ian following close by. "Can you excuse us for a minute?"

Outside Malachi revealed what he found out via their cousin in Baton Rouge.

"So you're telling me, that you have an uncle that you didn't know about?"
"Yeah, mom has a brother that my grandmother gave away shortly after birth."
"Wow...…." He paused for a moment and then resumed. "I'm gonna be spending next spring down there. Mom says it'll be good academically and it'll be an adventure."
"I feel awful. Does my mom know? Does yours? Does she know that I know?"
"How about Aunt Helen? Does SHE know that anyone else knows besides her and Anna?"
"I have no idea"
They paused, then Malachi asked. "So when do you leave? Do you know?"

"The day after New Year's"
"We'll have to do something"
"You got my email right?"
"Not yet" I can give you mine right now" Malachi said as he went to grab his backpack to get a sheet of paper. He tore a small sheet of loose-leaf paper writing down his email address. "There you go"

"Thanks man" Ian said as he wrote his email address down. "Good we can keep in touch that way"
"You do IM?"
"Absolutely. I'll give you that too"
"How about we go back in? Let's enjoy the rest of the book signing. Looks like your mom has got a bit of a fan club. "

The signing event eventually came to an end with Deja selling around 60% of her merchandise. She had some photos from the event that she planned to post online. Other's asked her when she'd be back. Her plan was to set a date because she wanted to do this again some time. The memoir was still in the making. On the drive home, she had a blissful feeling. She didn't die. The world didn't end. It was the first time she had done something such as this and it went better than she thought. Her next step was getting the book in some of the bookstores around town. Preferably local. At home the kids washed their hands, and dived right in to the food. Aundrea went for the nachos, while QJ went for a hotdog and a handful of barbecue chips. The others grabbed the sweets and punch.

Aundrea, Malachi, and Ian sat in the dining room table while the rest were in the den and on the balcony. "So what were the two of you talking about outside?" Aundrea asked.

"Nothing really. Just found out that our cousin is going to be spending the spring away in Louisiana so the two of us exchanged email and IM"
"I'll have to get that from you"
"Sure thing" Ian responded as we went to go fix a hotdog. Being at an online school, made this somewhat easier. He was going to be boarding with his Uncle Mark, who lives near the Calcasieu River. He had fond memories of his periodic visits down there with his mother. He catches a boat ride with Uncle Mark. Uncle Pete cooks a good meal and is a serious player of "Spades".

"You'll have the keep us updated. Send pics" Malachi said.
"Sure thing"

Their conversation was momentarily interrupted when Azalea asked the teens if they could take the younger ones trick-or-treating.

"Sure just give about 15 minutes?" Aundrea responded.

She grabbed a hotdog topping it with mustard, ketchup, and relish with a cup of punch. After eating, she asked the boys if they were ready. Dominic, Darius, and QJ if they were ready to go. "Mona c'mon" Aundrea said as she walked out. The boys slipped on  their costumes, which were simply superhero costumes and headed outside.  "We'll be back in an hour" she said as she grabbed a blow pop and followed them. "Where do y'all wanna go first?" Abram and Brandi agreed to stay behind and help pass out candy.

"Let's hit up Ms. Allen. She always gives good stuff" Junior suggested. "Yo, look at that" Dominic said observing a group of children on a hayride going from door to door.  "We need to get on one of those one day"

"Boy please" Dominic scoffed. "You and I BOTH know our mamas ain't going for that one"

"Mine either" Darius chimed in. Eventually making it to the corner of the first street, with a woman in a witch costumed sitting at the front door. She had a bowl full of goodies such as Milk Duds, Twix, Milky Ways, and much more suggesting that each child take a handful as she had more in the house.

"BRO!!!"
"Thank you ma'am" Dominic said
"Our neighbors suck. Lot of old people in our neighborhood" as they walked away.  Making it to the next block, they observed several people traveling in groups via van and walking. "I'm gonna take my cousins down the road. Those last few houses always have the goods." QJ implied pointing at a distance. Amina and Aundrea agreed as long as they stayed together.


While the boys ventured off, Aundrea admitted to a little sibling jealousy. She felt at times that Malachi was favored over her by her mother. "Bad blood?" Alexis asked.


"Girl, you just described what countless other black women and girls have said. Maybe your mom doesn't realize it. I think it's more along the lines of you not sharing as many interests with her. Look at it. He's a bookworm. You're more into music and gossip." Amina continued, "Not saying that's a bad thing. I'm just making an observation. Anyway....black mom's and their sons. Nothing new. Same could go with dad's and their daughters. How much have you gotten off with because your dad intervened?"

"A lot" Aundrea responded.
"There you have it" Amina said as she nodded. "I think she cares for you equally but differently."
AUNDREA-"She's telling me to look out for him because he's kind of a scared individual."
AMINA-"He wishes that he had confidence. He's tends to be careful about social settings, mean while you and Junior jump right in. So she feels that she doesn't have to worry about you two as much"

"Exhibit A" Aundrea stated as she observed QJ at a house from a distance. The home was what decked out with strobes, fog machines, and skeletons. It was a cemetery type setting. They walked up to get a closer look, and observed at least a dozen children outside collecting candy. It turns out that this neighbor was hosting a Halloween party.

"C'mon get some candy girls."

Amina didn't waste any time, "wow, Heath, Mr. Goodbars, Skittles. Don't mind if I do." Aundrea, was more interested in the bubble gum and the m&m's in the second bowl. "

"We've got pizza inside. Grab some for the road"
Aundrea hesitated for a moment, unlike her baby brother who complied with no questions asked.

AMINA-"That right there is why she NEEDS to worry about him"

Eventually catching up with Malachi and Ian, Aundrea said "We were just talking about you"
MALACHI-"Good I hope"
AMINA-"Oh yeah"
AUNDREA-"See any of your peeps out here?"
MALACHI-"Umm I saw Carson and Caleb, they're down the road. I invited them over."
AUNDREA-"Juan coming?"
MALACHI-"Nah, he had something at his family's house to go to. What about Brianna?"
AUNDREA-"Nope, she wasn't able to make it"

With the trick or treating hours coming to an end, they managed to get in 5 more houses, before returning home. "Get anything good?" Abe asked as they walked in.

"Check it out" Dominic said as he put his bucket on the table.  "Junior, you've bought back a few people"

"Yeah....mom this is Noah and Ezra"

"Hello"
"That's my aunt Clarissa"
After greeting the adults, they exchanged candy for a while "Okay you can have this, but you aint getting this one. This is mine!" QJ said, putting a Butter Finger Peanut Butter Cups in his pockets.

"That's fine." Darius said "I got a caramel apple pop"
"What'd you get Ezra?"
"Umm looks like I got some warheads, a bag of gummy bears. Some tootsie rolls. Got one of those vanilla ones. Some 'Nerds', a pack of soul skittles, some peanut m&ms, a few dum dums."
DOMINIC-"Yo is that is root beer flavored sucker?"
EZRA-"Yeah, take it. I don't even like root beer"
QJ-"I got my eye on the red hot that Dominic's got"
DOMINC"I'll trade you that orange lollipop for it"
QJ"Consider it sold"
NOAH-"What kind of stuff did y'all get from that guy towards the end. He buys a lot of his candy off the internet so he's got a lot of the old candy that you can't even find anymore"
QJ-"That was the best stop of the night"
NOAH-"No joke"
QJ-"Him and his wife. They always got some goods"
NOAH-I got some warheads. Some sour gum, a marshmallow pie, and a bag of chips.
EZRA-Willing to trade a blue raspberry for this pink lemonade?
NOAH-Nice doing business with you.

While they traded candy, the older kids were on the patio eating and playing board games. "So Abe. How long are you in town for?" Malachi asked.

ABRAM-"I leave tomorrow evening. Then I'll be back when school lets out for the Christmas break"
BRANDI-"How long y'all get?"
ABRAM-"Ummm, finals end like December 10th I believe and we go back to school a little after new years"
ABRAM-I hope so. 
IAN-"I'll be leaving for Louisiana around that time"
AUNDREA-"How is that gonna go?"
IAN-"Flying. I'll land in Houston, and then I'll catch a ride from our Uncle from Houston to Louisiana."
AUNDREA-"Scared?"
IAN-"Not really."
MALACHI-Mona and Alex going to?
ALEXIS-This summer probably. Be the first time in almost four years
RAMONA-Yep, I think we're ALL going this summer sometime. Just going to give you guys a heads up, that way when it comes up and we know that it will....you're already prepared.
ALEXIS-Don't worry, you'll love it. The family's great. We got our ratchet members, but overall, cookouts, Crawfish boils, boating. It's hella hot so you PROBABLY won't need to wear blue jeans.
IAN-What she said
AUNDREA-"Idk about y'all but I'm about to go get some sweets from inside."
ABRAM-"Right behind you"

FAYE-"What are y'all talking about out there?" 
ABRAM-"Not a whole lot. I'm talking about how much I stuffed my face and the run I'm going to have to make tomorrow. But it was worth it."
DEJA-"Glad you enjoyed it"
FAYE-"So you leave tomorrow?"
ABRAM-"In the evening, I'll be back for the Holidays."
FAYE-"So you're going down to Colorado with us?"
ABRAM-"Colorado?"
CLARISSA-"Yep, got a place for the Chirstmas break. We'll be accompanied by our relatives in Sacramento."
ABRAM-"Interesting............Looks like I'll be on a plane or in the van"
MIRIAM-Same here. I'll have to put in my request in advance. Hope they approve.
ABRAM-The drink looks pretty.
ANITA-Something that your sister hooked up.
AUNDREA-Is that the place we're going?
CLARISSA-It's near there, it'll be near a lake.
AUNDREA-Nice, well I'm gonna head back out. Let y'all get back to your conversation.
"So what’d I miss?" Aundrea asked as she returned to the porch. "Amina’s got a baby on the way" Malachi joked.
"Lies you tell!" Amina exclaimed.
BRANDI-"She has a thing for Abe’s friend."
AUNDREA-"Let’s talk about you and your-"
MALACHI-Zip it!
Abe shook his head as to say "not now" before taking a bite of the cupcake he had gotten from in the house.
The younger boys had put on Halloween cartoons while waiting on Noah and Ezra’s parents to arrive. Once his friends had gone home for the night, the cousins went upstairs to QJs room. They played video games until about 10:30 that night before company begin to leave. "Normally, you'd already be in bed. It's gonna be a struggle to get them up in the morning" Azalea said as she begin to get her kids in the car.

"Goodnight"

"Night" Deja responded. "Thanks for coming out tonight"

"Junior, it's probably time to start winding down. Walk out w/ me while I tell your aunts 'bye'"

Once the company had left, Aundrea stayed down to help Deja clean up the kitchen. "Honey, can you wash the dishes for me?"

"No problem mom"

She put some water on the stove to get some hot dish water while she filled the sink with water and soap. The plan being to add the water from the stove to the water in the sink. She washed the dishes, then she help put the food in the fridge. "Supper tomorrow" Deja said. "I'm not cooking, mama needs a break."

"Okay, that works" Aundrea laughed.  "So mom, your first book signing"
DEJA-I'm so glad it's over. I had a good time, but it was a lot of work.
AUNDREA-"People enjoy listening to you talk. So you started cooking at 9"
DEJA-"Yep, your great aunt showed me how to cook pies when I was about that age. I remember being fascinated with the way she run her kitchen as a kid. To be honest, I don't think she ever intended to show me how to cook but I wouldn't let up. I probably would have done it much earlier if I could've"
AUNDREA-"Listening to you tonight, I kind of wished that I could've met her"
DEJA-"Listening to myself, I wish I had made more of an effort to stay in contact with them. We got older, started college, lost touch. I hate to say, and I think about it every night."
AUNDREA-"So is this a way to honor her memory"

Deja paused for a moment. She didn't know what to say. Guilt was a big part of it, it's not that she didn't enjoy baking, however the news of her passing hit her like a ton of bricks. There was plenty of regret that she had not known how sick her aunt was. What bothered her even more was receiving the news of Anna's passing from her mother. After a deep breath, she simply responded "yes". Aundrea, not knowing what to say initially responded "If she was as sick as Grandma says she was, then her death could have occurred at any moment. Even if you kept contact with her or your cousin, and you were informed sooner. It's not the same as being able to see someone in person. Furthermore, if she were in that bad of shape, I don't that think she would have wanted you to see her in such critical condition."

DEJA-"James told me she spent the last couple of weeks of her life on life support with the last three days in and out of sleep, however she was inaudible."

After a pause, she said "I saw how you interacted with your cousins tonight. It was as if you'd known each other all of your lives and you haven't even know them six months"

AUNDREA-"Romana and Alexis are great.  Plus it's nice to have some cousins that I can have girl talk with. I like to hang with the fellas, but at times, it's nice to be able to chat with girls."
DEJA-"It was nice to talk with you tonight. We need to do this more. How about we have a girls day out this weekend? "
AUNDREA-"Sound good mom"
DEJA-"Great! Goodnight, honey and thank you again for washing these dishes."
AUNDREA-"Not a problem, you go get some shut eye"
DEJA-"You too, don't stay up all night."

TO BE CONTINUED WITH PART 26