Eh... a REALLY short section for now... it was the best place to end things for now... Next one coming right up!
"You're late." Kaitlin and Diana's mother greeted them with a stern look and her hands on her hips.
Diana looked at her watch, "But it's only three oh two!"
"Yeah, and that's enough time to let your beignets get cold!" her eyes softened as she motioned to a plate full of the golden brown pastries covered in tons of powdered sugar.
Kaitlin's eyes lit up, "Yes! Beignets!" She immediately sat down at the table and picked up one of the French donuts.
"Yay!" Diana also dug into the mass of brown and white.
"Gosh, these are good! Thanks, Mom!" Kaitlin took a bite of her second beignet. Powdered sugar fell onto Diana's shirt as she nodded in agreement. Mrs.Matthews laughed, "I'm glad you're enjoying them… I paid a whole eight dollars, and I even carried them to the table myself!" she joked.
The three females laughed together as they ate and talked about completely random things. Eventually they came to their purchases of the day…
"Look what I got at the Asian Market, Mommy!" Diana held up the doll she had made such a fuss over not three hours earlier.
"Wow!" She replied, "She's really pretty. How much money did you spend on her?"
"Fifteen dollars!" Diana beamed, "And Kaitlin bought a book, too!"
Their mother turned her gaze to Kaitlin, "A book? What kind?"
Kaitlin thought for a second, "Actually, I'm not sure… It's in ancient Chinese." She pulled out the old book and looked at it. Her mother took notice to its age and wasn't too pleased. "Just how much did you pay for this old thing?"
"Only ten bucks!" Kaitlin said defensively, "Besides, I can buy what I want with my money!" she quickly put the book back in her bag, which sat beside her at the table.
"But you can't even read it! Why bother buying something you can't get any us of!" Despite her mother's increasing temper, Kaitlin continued to defend herself and her purchase. "One; it's fascinating, considering its age, it's in great condition. The writing is hand painted—actually, the whole book was hand made! Two; I wanted to use this book to teach myself Chinese calligraphy so I could read it. And three; I paid the ten dollars for the book so Diana could get that doll for so cheap!" Kaitlin shot invisible daggers at her mother as she leaned back and crossed her legs and folded her arms over her chest.
"I thought I told you not to let those Asians talk you into buying-"
"Junk! I know mother! My book is not junk! Just because it's old doesn't mean it's not worth anything!"
Diana watched the whole spectacle in silence, knowing better than to say anything to either one of them.
Mrs.Matthews sighed, "We need to go…we'll discuss this further with your father after dinner tonight…"
"Whatever." Kaitlin picked up the remains of their snack, which wasn't much, and threw them away.
The walk to the hotel was deathly silent. There was, of course, the constant bustle of the rustic New Orleans streets, but between the three travelers, not a sound was made. They passed all sorts of little shops that sold things like local artwork or antique lapel pins… They passed performers on each corner; a brass quartet playing classic jazz tunes, a Jamaican acrobatic group balancing on four foot markers that lined the sidewalks, as well as the many artists and 'fortune tellers' that heavily populated the French Quarter, yet they remained mute.