Cooking & the Language of Love
~Chapter Three~
The Ingredients
By: Ghost-girl-writes
Warning: This chapter contains violent acts in the name of religion, if that upsets you or you do not like that, you have been warned.
"...and here are the English classrooms. As you can see we like to keep subjects that are similar in the same corridors, so students aren't running around." Mr. Bonnefoy stated.
"Many students here tend to keep to one subject and take electives that involve their favorite subject matter and the like."
Matthew and Mr. Bonnefoy had been walking around the school for about an hour now, it was truly a massive school. They had already seen the gym, library, cafeteria and the majority of the classrooms and such. He even noticed the school uniforms that all the students wore when they walked by open classroom doors. It made his skin crawl with nauseating memories that he quickly pushed away and continued walking along side Mr. Bonnefoy. The younger blonde couldn't help but noticed some of the old torch holders nailed into some of the walls above the lockers as they passed by them. Though, it was pretty to look at, Matthew still felt an uneasy feeling settling in his stomach. "So, Mr. Bonnefoy-"
"Please, call me Francis. No need to be so formal when it's just us."
"Right, sorry, Francis, when did you move into town?" Matthew asked, and saw Francis dig through his mind.
"Ah, about two years ago, from France of course." He told him with a bright, and very white smile.
Matthew hummed and they continued on walking down one of the hallways. As they walked they came passed a stained glass window, with a depiction of a scene from the bible. They both came to a stop together to gaze at it. He noticed a small smile on Francis' face as he gazed at the colored glass. His eyes drifted back over to the window and noticed that it was Jesus being crucified on the cross. Immediately on instinct Matthew grabbed his left hand with his right and slowly started rubbing it in small circular motions.
Hoping to start moving again he asked Francis where his classroom would be, if he took the job, and he broke his gaze from the glass and nodded his head. "Right this way." He said and lead him down the seemingly never ending hallway.
They took a right turn down a hallway and stopped outside a classroom with the lights off. "My classroom and the other foreign language classes are right down this hallway and to the left." Francis informed him.
Matthew nodded his head and watched as Francis pulled the large door open and reached inside the dark classroom to flick the light switch. The lights flickered back and forth for a moment or two, before staying on. The taller blonde stepped to the side so that Matthew could enter the room first. It was a rather large room, which was nice, definitely fitting for holding the equipment he saw in the room.
At the very back of the room was a large chalkboard, untouched and its surface smooth and clean. There was a rather large wooden desk in front of it with a chair placed neatly in the center of it. Matthew took a few steps into the room and came to one of the six large stations that were equipped with an oven and stove burners on top. He checked one of them over and moved to open an oven and inspected the inside. The young blonde looked around a bit more, the connected storage room, where all the supplies were, the desk, and other items, all while Francis leaned against one of the desks watching his potential co-worker wander around the room silently.
After a few moments, he cleared his throat and push himself away from the desk, seeing Matthew turn around and look at him. "I hope you are finding nothing wrong with the room." He spoke and made his way over to him.
"Oh no, the room is fine."
"That's good, but I can see you're a bit uneasy." Francis said and watched Matthew run a hand through his locks of hair.
"More so stress than uneasiness." Matthew told him.
"I hope you don't mind me prying." Francis said quickly.
"Oh, no...not at all, my roommate on the other hand..." Matthew trailed off with a slight smile.
This made Francis raise a perfectly plucked eyebrow at the male. "You have a roommate?" He asked him, a curious look on his face.
"Well, had a roommate I should say. I studied in France and moved to Germany for a bit and had a roommate, Gilbert. He was...well he was something really." He told him.
"Couldn't really hide anything from the likes of him, practically the definition of nosy." Matthew added.
Francis hummed softly and noticed a small tug at the corner of his lips. "May I ask why you came back to the states?" He asked.
The Frenchman immediately noticed the shift in Matthew's posture and his shoulder slump slightly. There was a brief moment of silence and he had wondered if he should not have asked such a question. However, before he could say to forget about it, Matthew spoke up. "My mother is sick, and she doesn't have a lot of time. So I decided to move back here, to spend her last days together."
"Matthew I'm terribly sorry, I was very insensit-"
"It's alright, really. Not many people know, but the nurse says that she's having more good days than bad."
Francis walked over and placed a hand on Matthew's shoulder. "I'm glad to hear that she is doing well. Everyone here at the school will support you, if you wish to teach here that is." He said and looked down at Matthew.
The shorter male adjusted his glasses and nodded his head. "Yeah..." His voice trailing off.
The two spent a moment like that before exiting the room. There wasn't much left to explore of the school after visiting his potential classroom domain and eventually found himself back in the lobby standing and chatting with Francis. "I hope to hear your answer soon." Francis said.
"Yes, as do I."
"To be honest, it'll be fun to have someone to talk to in my mother tongue. It'll make the other language teachers a bit jealous." Francis gave an airy chuckle, to which Matthew laughed a bit.
"It would be nice, wouldn't?"
"Hm."
"Well, maybe I'll see you around then, Mr. Bonnefoy."
"Mr. Williams."
They said goodbye to each other and Matthew slipped his messenger bag over his shoulder and headed for the large double doors. By that time, Francis had disappeared down one of the hallways back to his classroom. Mulling over his experience, he hated to admit it, but Alfred was a bit right. The place wasn't completely bad, and he didn't have to go to mass with the other students and teachers. He could just stay in his classroom and set up things for his class, or maybe read a nice book while he waited. It seemed nice, really nice.
Matthew yanked one of the double doors open and managed for the second time that day to bump into someone. "Oh I'm terribly sorry!" He said and felt the person grab onto his wrist so that they didn't fall over.
"Nothing to worry about my son, my legs aren't as strong as they use to be." The man in all black said.
Without hesitation Matthew yanked his wrist away from the man and stared at him like a deer in headlights, which didn't go unnoticed by the elderly priest. He had a worried look on his face as the male in front of him turned a ghostly white. "Are you alright son? Your face is a bit pale, maybe should have the nurse take a look at you?" He suggested, to which Matthew quickly shook his head.
"Thank you, but have to go."
And as quickly as possible made his way around the priest and told himself to not spirit to his car and lock the doors. Once inside the vehicle he started it up and drove out of the lot and on to the street. Matthew felt his heartbeat in his ears and quickly turned his car down a tiny alleyway for a moment to regain himself and calm down before driving any further. His hands felt glued to steering wheel as his chest rose and fell rather rapidly. The blonde closed his eyes for a moment and mumbled soft words to himself, before slowly removing his iron grip from the wheel. Once his eyes were opened again they gradually fell to his wrist, looking at the delicate skin.
Gently he took his right hand and rubbed his left wrist softly, being careful over the scarred skin. The scars were barely visible now, all that was left was the discolored and healed skin in its place, but that didn't mean the memories weren't still there, just under the surface.
Matthew took off his glasses and pinched the bridge of his nose a bit after a moment of rubbing his wrist and let out a long sigh. Slipping his glasses back on, he tossed his bag in the passenger side seat and started the car up again. He buckled up and slowly pulled out of the alleyway and back on to the main road.
As he drove back home, Matthew kept glancing down at his wrist, not taking note as to how grey the sky was getting as he headed back down the dirt road. The sky above was growing heavy with rain clouds and soon they were swollen enough to empty the clear droplets down on to the town and surround area. He flicked on the wipers as he continued driving and his headlights to light up the misting roadway. Matthew caught a glimpse of the white roof of his old home through the trees and slowed the car down. The vehicle eventually came to a stop in the middle of road, a few yards from the driveway.
The rain was coming down a lot harder now and the world outside the car was blurry and soaked. Matthew sat there in the silence of the hammering rain and the automatic tune of the windshield wipers creaking back and forth. He stared at the living room windows and saw Elizaveta standing there with a tray in her hands. She disappeared from view, no doubt going to help his mother with her lunch and feed her.
Matthew pressed his back against his seat and took his hands off of the wheel, simply staring out the front window of his car.
Why did all of this have to happen?
What was he suppose to do now?
Did he just have to keep pretending that it doesn't hurt having to watch his mother dying, thinking she only had one son?
Why did she remember Alfred and not him? Why did her mind choose to shut him out?
Why did he have to leave? To go away? Why didn't he stay?
Was this his fault?
Did he do something wrong?
No...no, no, Matthew did nothing wrong...
That's what he always told him.
"Nothing's wrong..." Matthew whispered to himself, his mind spinning of memories.
A few tears slipped down his face and moved his hand to wipe them away quickly.
Eventually, Matthew pulled himself together and drove the car up to the driveway and parked it out front. After he gathered his things and locked the doors, he made his way inside. From the car to the house, his shirt was completely soaked through from the pouring rain. Elizaveta came into the hall to greet Matthew. He was taking his shoes off as she came over to him.
"Your mother is doing well today, she's taking a nap right now. I just thought you wanted-"
"Thank you, Elizaveta." Matthew said as he quickly put his shoes to the side and grabbed his bag.
She cleared her throat, "How was the interview today with the school?" She asked him as he walked towards the stairs.
"It was good, good."'
"That's nice to hear. Will you take the job?" She asked.
"Maybe."
Matthew went up to his bedroom and closed the door as he loosened his tie. He tossed it on top of his dresser and unbuttoned his shirt as he made his way to the bathroom.
He turned on the sink and let it run for a little bit so that it was nice and cold. Reaching forward, Matthew cupped the icy water and splashed his face a few times with it. Taking a towel from the rack and wiping his face and glasses afterwards. After that, he closed the bathroom door and turned on the shower.
He looked out the tiny window that viewed into the backyard and the forest beyond as the room filled up with steam. The blonde ridded himself of the rest of his clothing and stepped into the hot shower. Matthew let out a long, loud sigh as the hot water rained over him. He stood under the water for a few minutes before he started to wash himself.
As time ticked on, he found himself thinking of the job offer. The pay was nice, really nice for a teacher these days, and if he was smart with his money, he could find a place soon enough so he didn't have stay here and worry about his mother. The hours were nice too, and he only had three periods to teach and he loved teaching others to cook, so it wasn't like it was hard. Matthew worried his lower lip between his teeth as he thought to himself.
After washing out his hair for about the third time, he finally decided that he should get out of the shower and put some clothes on. Begrudgingly he turned the hot water off and pulled the curtain back, meeting a bathroom full of steam. He walked over to the tiny window and opened it a bit to help let some of it out.
Matthew grabbed a towel and started dry on himself off before opening the bathroom door and walking back into his bedroom. He threw on a pair of briefs he found and a red and black plaid button up shirt, crawled into bed and snuggled under the covers. The young male rolled over and looked at the toxic green numbers of the clock on his bedside table and saw that it was barely two o'clock, yet his body was already so tired.
He decided it was best to just take a quick nap to recharge himself. Taking his phone out, he set an alarm for an hour and placed on the wooden table. Matthew curled up in a ball and drifted peaceful to sleep.
It smells like autumn.
His eyes fluttered open and saw Alfred standing there with a big smile on his face. "Hahah! Come on Mattie, get up, get up!" Alfred said, tugging at his arm and making him stand up from his comfortable bed.
"Father Julius said that we can have class outside today remember?"
"Right! He promised that last week, didn't he?"
"Yup! Come on."
That's right, Alfred had braces when we were little.
He watched his brother smile as they started to get dress. It was still early in the morning, seven o'clock, and as the tied their shoes, he could smell waffles cooking downstairs. "Last one down is a rotten egg!" Alfred said, the both of them squealing happily as they darted out of his room and down the stairs.
Of course, Alfred was the first one down the stairs and quickly seated at the table. Matthew sat down next to him and looked over at their mother humming and cooking near the stove. "You boys seem awfully happy to go to school today, why's that?" She asked as she turned around with to decorative plates in her hands.
"Father Julius said that we can have class outside today!" Alfred said as their mother placed the dishes in front of them.
"Well, it is a nice day today isn't it?"
Both boys hummed as they stuffed their faces with the delicious food. Soon enough, the two boys were done and ready to leave. They watched as their mother placed one of her sun hats on her head and lead them out the door to the car. Her lavender dress billowed around her as the wind swept up, sending a cool breeze over them.
After finally getting Alfred to calm down to get his seatbelt on, their mother pulled away from the house and headed down the road.
"Father Julius said that since our class was so good, we get to go outside! I can't wait! Do you think he'll let us play some games?"
"I dunno, but Father Simmons said that we're gonna receive communion soon so we have to practice for the ceremony." Matthew said.
"But Father Simmons is sooooo ollllld!" Alfred sighed.
"No he's not!"
"He looks like Santa Claus!"
"Boys..." Their mother said, in a mockingly stern tone.
"Sorry mom." They said in unison.
It wasn't long until they reached the church. It was still early for class to start, but the two boys already had their doors open and made their way up to the stone steps of the church. "Alfred! Matthew! Behave today, okay? Or not dessert tonight!" Their mother called after them.
"Okay!" They said, waving goodbye to their mother as she wandered over to a pair of other pairs that were already there.
Alfred and Matthew entered the church and took the first left down the long stone hallway towards the classrooms.
"Do you think Father Julius will tell us stories today?"
"He always tells us stories." Matthew said as they neared the door towards their class.
Alfred pushed the door open to reveal the off white room. A man dressed in all black with thick, brown curly hair was standing next to the chalk board, writing something on it.
"Good morning Father Julius!"
The priest turned around and smiled, placing the stick of chalk down. "Good morning Alfred."
He said and walked over to the brothers. The priest's hand ruffled Matthew's hair as younger boy smiled up at him. "And good morning Matthew."
"G'morning Father Julius."
"You two are early as usual." He said and walked back towards the board.
"Duh! You said we could have class outside today! Right!? You promised!"
"Yes I did," the older man laughed, "and we will. Once everyone is here and I take attendance." He told them.
The two of them took seats on the chairs that were placed around the room until the other kids arrived. Most of them played with some of the toys, and read some books while the Father made sure everyone was accounted for. Then, Father Julius helped guide all the kids outside in the courtyard of the church, telling them not to wander too far from where they were. He let the kids run around before pulling out a book and telling everyone to gather around him.
Everyone thought that he told the best stories. All the kids listened closely to his words and laughed at his funny expressions. Eventually, the story ended and said that they had a bit of time left outside, so the kids decided to play a game of tag. Of course, Alfred called being 'it' first and started chasing one of the girls around the grassy area.
Matthew was about to start running to find a hiding spot when he felt the Father place a hand on his shoulder. "Matthew, would you mind if we talk for a moment, before you go play?" He asked.
The blonde nodded his head, wondering if he had perhaps done something wrong, or was in trouble. "Nothing to be fearful of Matthew, you're a good student, one of the brightest minds here."
"Thank you." He said and smiled.
"Come, follow me."
Matthew trailed behind Father Julius and looked back to see that Alfred was now being chased by the girl he had tagged and smiled. "This way." Father Julius said, making the young boy turn around and continue to follow.
They entered the church and for a moment, wondered if it was a good idea to leave the rest of the class outside by themselves, but Matthew didn't know where the Father was taking him, and was more curious about that.
After walking for about a minute, they entered the part of the church where mass was held. Surprisingly, it was empty. Matthew looked back at Father Julius who was still walking, down the center aisle now, towards the front alter. The blonde trailed a few feet behind him and stopped at the base of the marble stairs.
He watched silently as Father Julius climbed the stairs and made his way towards the marble slab, behind the altar where the bread and wine were normally laid.
"Father-"
"Come on."
Matthew gave him a curious look, but climbed the stairs as well when the male commanded him to do so.
"Father, why are we here?" Matthew finally found his voice to ask him.
"Well, Matthew, you are certainly a special student. Bright, smart, kind, very thankful and honest. You are honest, right Matthew?" He said.
"Yes, I am." He said, shuffling his weight from one foot to another as he stood beside the male.
"Good, good, now Matthew, do you know what your name means?" He asked him.
The blonde shook his head from side to side slowly and watched as a smile formed on the priest's lips. "Well, I'll tell you." He said and turned from him to grab something from under the marble table.
Matthew watched him reveal a long wooden box, with etchings on the side that he could make out from where he was standing.
"Matthew means, 'gift of the lord', in Hebrew." He said and glanced at Matthew.
The young child simply nodded his head, understanding. Matthew watched as Father Julius flipped the top of the box off and saw that his smile never left his face. It made him feel uneasy and started shuffle his feet more.
"Uh, Father...can I go back outside? Alfred might be looking for me and he's very overprotect-"
"Silence."
Matthew jumped a little in his spot, having never heard the man before sound so upset.
"Sorry, I didn't mean to scare you." He said, turning to face Matthew and ruffled his hair yet again, his smile back on his lips.
"Up we go."
Father Julius picked Matthew up from under his armpits and placed him on top of the marble table.
"Father, I don't think I should be-"
"Hush, hush, it's alright." He told him.
Matthew felt his heart skip a few beats and a lump form in his throat. He started to shake nervously on the cold, hard stone table, and noticed that Father Julius started humming softly under his breath.
Matthew felt his heart skip a few beats and a lump form in his throat. He started to shake nervously on the cold, hard stone table, and noticed that Father Julius started humming softly under his breath.
The young boy never felt scared around Father Julius before, but the way he was acting right now made him want to run away, but he felt frozen in his spot. It was at that moment, when Matthew caught a glimpse of the wooden box next to him.
He thought he was going to throw up at the sight of it, or pass out on the table. Long, wooden stakes were placed neatly inside the box and for a split second, Matthew regained control over his motor skills and tried getting off the table. But he wasn't quick enough.
Father Julius held Matthew down as he started struggling to try and get away. Before he knew it, his back was up against the cold marble, tears flooding his eyes as he begged for to stop. Matthew cried and stuttered out words of mercy as he saw the man grab a wooden stake from the box and held it above him.
The older man started reciting a verse from the bible that Matthew hadn't heard of before, but didn't care for as he begged for him to put the stake down.
"Please, I'm sorry! I don't know what I did but I confess please! Oh god, please!" Matthew cried hysterically at the man who was still reciting words.
Matthew continued to struggle and yelling bloody murder for help, praying that someone would hear him, anyone.
For a split second, he heard Father Julius stop his chanting and glanced up at him at the same moment the stake came down and pierced his left wrist. The tip of the stake almost going completely through the other side.
The boy's body convulsed with pain and shook like a leaf on the stone. His cries were pitched and his voice wavering, he could barely see straight as the pain shot through his body and tears trailed down his face.
He heard the clinking of wood against each other and knew he was grabbing another stake. At this point, Matthew was hyperventilating and thought that he really would pass out at any moment.
His eyes looked at his skewered wrist to see that his blood was staining the stone underneath it and sent a wave of panic over his body.
The young body didn't take notice to Father Julius as he recited the verse again, another stake in his hand as he aimed it for Matthew's other wrist. Slowly, his cries and pleas grew softer as he felt his vision blur and steadily grow dark around the corners. Matthew didn't even hear the church's side doors open or see Father Simmons standing their with a Bishop as Father Julius dropped the wooden weapon. The little, poor boy didn't even noticed that the Father had stopped holding him down, and was now running down the opposite hallway, or that he was being taken off the cold stone table.
That was when he passed out.
Matthew jolted up right out of his bed and saw Alfred standing there with a warm mug of something in his hands, and for a split second, he thought he was still dreaming. He could tell by the look on his brother's face that he had scared him to some degree, and if the heavy breathing that he heard was coming from him, then that meant that Alfred knew what had happen. Matthew placed a hand over his chest and felt his hand moving up and down quickly along with his breathing. He swallowed and looked away, tugging his blanket off of him and went to stand when Alfred practically jumped in front of him, sitting him back down.
"I heard you in your sleep." He said.
"It was nothing."
"Last time you said that, you ended up in the hospital."
"That was last time."
"Alfred, I'm fine okay."
"Matthew, listen, don't think I haven't thought about what happened to you when you said you'd come home."
"Alfred really-"
"No Mattie. If you're having those nightmares again because you're back here then maybe we can-"
"Alfred."
Matthew snapped.
"It was just this one time. I'm over it." He said and moved Alfred to the side so he could stand up.
The shorter blonde walked over to his dresser to go put on some pants as he heard the creaking of his bed, telling him that Alfred was sitting on it.
"Y'know, I can talk to Benny at the pharmacy for a refill on those-"
Matthew slammed one the drawer to his dress loudly and spun around with a pair of sweatpants in one hand.
"I told you I'm perfectly fine Alfred. In fact, I'm so fine that I'm even taking the job." He blurted out.
"Wait, seriously?" Alfred, said in surprise.
"Yeah, seriously."
Fuck...
Hello everyone! I'm so sorry it took so long to write this, but school has been keeping me so busy. Hopefully I'll have the next chapter after this one uploaded sooner rather than later! Other than that, thank you for reading and please let me know what you think of the story so far! Happy writing!