The First Home-Cooked Meal
The Biker Mice had just finished blowing up Limburger's Tower. Limburger attempted to blow up one of Chicago's oldest public parks. The mice with the help of Charley disarmed the explosives and put them in Limburger's Tower without his knowledge.
"Ha Ha Ha! Soon Plutork will be the owners of the park's land and the High Chairman will promote me to a council seat."Limburger chuckled, as he pressed the start button on the detonator.
The tower was blown to rumble.
"NOOOOOOOOO!"He cried, then sobbed,"Another cookie crumbles."
The mice and Charley cheered.
"Three cheers for Charley-girl!"Throttle shouted, while he and his bros whooped and hollered.
"Let's celebrate! I got a great idea."Charley began.
"Let's go to Daddy Joe's Rib Shack! I gotta a taste for some barbequed spare ribs." Modo exclaimed.
"No, let's go to Frankie Lee's Hoagie Dogs! They've got the best hot dogs in Chi-town." Vinnie said, excitedly, "They load 'em with whatever toppings you want!"
"I dunno. Dogs and ribs are a little heavy for my delicate palette. What do you think, Charley-girl?" Throttle asked her.
"Well, I was thinking about cooking something at home for you guys."She replied, "I downloaded some recipes off the Internet and-"
"HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA!" All three mice laughed. "What's so funny?" Charley asked, annoyed.
"You in a kitchen cooking! Hee hee hee!" Throttle chuckled.
"You're such a kidder, sweetheart. You almost had us going." Vinnie said.
"Are you saying I can't cook?" "Remember those broccoli cookies you made for us once?" Throttle asked.
"Don't forget the fried frog legs. Ugh!" Vinnie said.
"Or the kale cake. Or was it a pie?" Modo said, thoughtfully.
"It was so flat. How could you tell?" Vinnie said.
They both doubled over with laughter. Charley shut her eyes to all the guffaws and chortling.
"There was nothing wrong with those cookies." Charley said turning to Throttle.
"We couldn't even bite into them. Had to use them as doorstops"
"Very funny. So I had a few culinary mishaps. I'll have you smart alecks know I've cooked good stuff for you before." "Dropping hot dogs in a pot doesn't count." Vinnie told her.
"I still did it."
"And we appreciate everything you do for us, Charley-ma'am, but maybe you should just stick to something you're good at like...repairing cars." Modo said, trying to smooth things over. He could see how mad she was getting.
"That's all I'm good for?" she retorted, "Bye, guys. I've suddenly lost my appetite."
She straightened up and angrily stomped off.
"Oh, man." Modo sighed. The mice looked at each other. Now what were they going to do?
The next night the mice pulled up at the Last Chance garage.
"Is it such a hot idea to show up, bro?" Vinnie asked, "Charley-girl was pretty pissed off at us the other night."
"We shouldn't have teased her." Modo said, "I don't like seeing Miss Charley upset. If my mama had been here she would've knocked my block off for upsetting a woman."
"She asked us to come for some reason I don't know. Besides we owe Charley-girl an apology." Throttle said.
"I thought I'd wait till she cooled off. You know when Charley gets riled up, it usually takes a long time for it to blow over." Vinnie said.
"Vincent!"
"Fine. Let's do this." He replied, removing his helmet. Throttle and Modo had already removed their helmets and got off their bikes and were entering the front. "Charley!" They called. There was no answer. But an aroma stopped them in their tracks. What's that fresh garlic and onions that they smelled? The pleasant aroma wafted and got stronger the more they entered. They made their way to the kitchen. There covering the old table was a white tablecloth and it was set for dinner.
"Good evening, gentlemen. Welcome to Cafe Charlee!" said a cheerful voice. The mice looked up to see their old friend Manuel dressed in a white apron carrying a large platter under his arm.
They remembered him well. He had been kidnapped and enslaved by the Pit Boss.
They rescued Manuel and helped him open up his own store with reward money Limburger posted for the capture of the Biker Mice.
Manuel never forgot their kindness.
"Manuel? What is all this?" Throttle asked.
"Charley wanted to do this for you. Please sit down. I have to go help her bring in the food." He disappeared into the kitchen while the mice sat down at the table looking at each other wondering what this was all about. In a little while, Charley and Manuel came out with covered dishes of food. "Surprise, guys! Dig in." Charley chirped happily.
"This stuff smells great!" Modo said, lifting a cover off a dish to see yellow rice surrounded by mussels, chicken thighs, and shrimp,"What is it?" "Spanish Paella!" Manuel replied, "And those are empanadas to your left, and finally for dessert coffee flan."
Everyone ate heartily and were throughly enjoying themselves.
"That was great, Manuel. Thanks." Throttle said.
"Don't thank me. Thank Charley. She fixed it all. I just helped her with it." Manuel replied.
"Thanks, sweetheart. That was amazing." Vinnie said.
"You're welcome, guys." Charley said.
"I'm sorry we teased you." Modo said, looking down.
"We all are." Throttle said, jabbing his elbow into Vinnie's side.
"What he said." Vinnie said.
"There's only one thing you can do to make up for it." Charley said "What's that?" Vinnie asked.
"Since I did the cooking. You three macho mice can do the dishes, dry them, and put them away." Charley said.
"Whatever you say, Charley-girl. C'mon, bros." Throttle sighed,as the three of them got up from the table and were headed into the kitchen.
"Let's bust some suds." Modo said.
"Aw, man. I gotta learn to keep my big mouth shut next time!" Vinnie muttered.
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