The Chamberlain Redemption

Chapter 3

I quickly took a cold shower and got changed into some fresh clothes. Truth be known I was not really that tired. I slept in the bus most of the way from Memphis, so a cold shower was really all I needed to relieve me of my drowsiness.

Auntie Garrison and Carrie had prepared a few small ribeye steaks and some spaghetti with homemade tomato sauce. It was almost like I was in the dinner in prison scene from Goodfellas. Only instead of being in prison I was in my Auntie's house. Then there was the quality of the cuisine.

The ribeye's were perfect. Medium rare. The meat was pink and juicy, the fat on the ribeye's melted in my mouth, every bite exploded with flavor. The spaghetti and tomato sauce were just as good. The sauce was extraordinarily rich, and I could taste a lot of onion and a little bit of garlic. I could also taste veal, beef, and pork in the sauce. The pork is especially important because that is where a lot of the flavor is. It was so delicious. I am not sure if I have had a better tasting meal in my entire life.

"Auntie. This has got to be some of the best food I have had in my entire life!" I said enthusiastically.

"Don't thank me Frankie. Thank Carrie. She got here several hours ago to make all of this for us. All I did was help her as she needed it." Auntie said.

"Wow! Really!? Well, thank you Carrie! This is the best meal that I have had in an awfully long time!" I said.

Carrie suddenly got red in the face, developed a shy smile and started ringing her skirt.

"Oh, it's nothing. Just something I whipped up." She said shyly looking down at her lap.

"Nothing? Carrie I am being serious. This is great! I tell you, with cooking skills like this you will make someone one hell of a wife someday!"

Carrie was clearly embarrassed by this statement. In a good way. She started blushing even harder. She looked like a red balloon that was about to pop. I was a little embarrassed myself. I said that almost reflexively. Maybe it's a little sexist of me, but after spending most of High School surrounded by skinny rich cheerleader girls who could barely even pour water in a glass and subsisted mostly on salad, I had grown strangely attracted to girls like Carrie. Basically, the opposite of the popular girls. Well fed, modestly dressed, humble, and knows her way around a kitchen. I guess I started to feel this way after learning the rich cheer leader girls really did not have much to offer in terms of substance.

So, there we were just sitting there all awkwardly and my aunt was enjoying every minute of it. She had a Cheshire cat grin spread across her face. I am sure that to her this was like one of her trashy romance novels that she probably reads.

"Okay. Let us finish eating and then the two of you can talk some more over a couple of root beers." Auntie said.

So, we continued eating. I had a second helping of steak and spaghetti. I was so bloated I thought I was going to pop. A guy could really get fat eating like this every night. Once we finished, Auntie pulled me off to her bedroom and gave me a couple of bucks.

"Here you go. Now Frankie, I'm counting on you to not screw this up. Walk her down there, hold the door open for her. If you get a table, pull her seat out for her. Be a gentleman and treat her like a lady. Remember you are here for a new start, you have shunned your past life and want to be a new man. A good man."

"I know. I'll do my best."

"I know you will. Now go have fun. I want to hear all about it when you get home."

"Ok."

After the pep talk from Auntie, Carrie and I were out the door. She led the way to Kelly's. When we got there, I held the door open for Carrie. She was surprised at this gesture.

"Thank you." She spoke.

We got a seat at a booth where we were greeted almost immediately by a middle-aged waitress.

"Two root beers please." I requested.

"Coming right up."

The root beers came out seconds later. Carrie and I started to talk while we drank.

"So how long have you and Auntie known each other?"

"My whole life, I guess. She used to take care of me when I was little."

"I see. So, you have been keeping her company during her retirement."

"I guess you can say that."

"What do your parents do?" I asked.

"My momma works at a dry cleaner's, and she sews dresses on the side. My daddy was a construction worker before he died, I never knew him."

"I'm sorry to hear that. I never knew my father either, he walked out on my mom after he got her pregnant with me. And my mom died in a car accident when I was little. My grandparents raised me until they died just recently." I said sadly.

Carrie developed a sad look on her face and her eyes started to get a little watery upon hearing what I said.

"Hey its okay. You do not have to get sad on my behalf. Everything turned out ok for me."

"That's just so sad!" she said crying a little more.

Seeing her like this seemed to just melt my insides. I felt a desire to wrap her up on my arms, stroke her hair, and tell her everything was going to be ok. Like she was a lost puppy or a child who got lost in the mall. So, I did. I got up from my seat and stretched out my arms, she very nervously welcomed my embrace, pressing her soft body against me. I had one arm wrapped around her back, the hand on my other arm gently stroked the back of her head all the while I whispered into her ear that everything was okay. We stayed that way until she calmed down. Then we got back into our seats and continued sipping our root beers.

"Feel better?" I asked.

"Yes. But it should be me asking that about you."

She was such a sweet, sensitive girl. I could barely stand it. In a good way.

I'll be okay Carrie. With friends like you and family members like Auntie, I will be fine.

"We are friends?"

"I don't know, you tell me. Do you want to be friends?"

"Yes of course. It's just I've never really had a friend before."

"A sweet girl like you? No friends? That can't be true."

"The kids at school think that I am weird."

"I guess they haven't gotten to know you. In fact, let's talk about you. What do you like to do for fun? What are your talents?"

"I like to sew. I sew my own dresses. I also like gardening."

"You are really old fashioned, aren't you?"

"What do you mean?"

"Well, you can cook, you sew your own dresses, you dress very modestly, you don't seem to hardly wear any makeup. And unless I am mistaken, the crucifix around your neck tells me that you are a Catholic. There just aren't very many girls like you anymore."

"It's not that I choose to. My momma hammered in cooking, sewing, and cleaning skills into me ever since I was little. And she does not let me wear anything flashy, nor does she let me wear makeup; she thinks its sinful. And I am not Catholic, I'm a Christian."

"Sounds like your mom is really strict. Catholics are Christians too you know."

"She is extremely strict. And my momma doesn't think so."

I did not think that level of Anti-Catholicism existed anymore. I had to be careful about what I said next.

"What do you think?"

"About what?"

"Well, you told me what your mother thinks. But that is not important to me. What do you think?"

She looked surprised by this question, it seemed obvious that she did not know how to answer. But I suspected she would say something.

"I… don't know." She said shyly.

Her mother obviously had a tremendous amount of influence on her. Maybe even to the point where it might be toxic. But maybe I was overanalyzing things.

"How's your root beer?" I asked.

"It's good."

We made casual conversation for a while longer before eventually leaving. I walked Carrie home as instructed. To my surprise it was the same creepy looking house that I passed by on my way to Auntie's house. The one with craters in the front lawn.

"This is your house?" I asked.

"Yes." She responded timidly.

"How did these craters get here."

Her eyes went wide, as though she had not been expecting that question, and her eyes darted back and forth.

"They are from a hailstorm that happened when I was little." She said abruptly.

"I've never known hail to make craters this big." I said skeptically.

"They were very big."

She obviously did not want to talk about it. So, I dropped the question and walked her up to the front porch. It was very intimidating walking up to that house. It was almost as if I was walking up to "Hell House" from Richard Metheson's horror novel. I was pretty scared, but not wanting to be rude I asked Carrie if I could introduce myself to her mother.

"Would it be alright if I introduce myself to your mother?"

"NO!" she shouted.

I was a little surprised at this. It was almost as if she was terrified at the prospect.

"I mean she isn't home." She said apologetically.

"Oh ok. Well, it was nice spending time with you Carrie. We should do it again some time."

She didn't respond.

"Well nice seeing you." I said.

I then began the short walk home. Auntie was there waiting for me.

"How did it go?" she asked.

"It was fun. I think I will enjoy spending more time with her."

"That's good. Go ahead and get ready for bed."

"Yes Auntie."