Trudy bustled straight towards the kitchen area and opened up the stove door, sniffing the warm air.
‘Smells a little like burnin’ to me.’
‘It’s nothin’, just summat caught on the bottom of the oven, Ma.’
‘You sure? Smells like the onions.’ Her mother had a nose for this sort of thing. ‘You didn’t put them in the potatoes, did you? It’ll play hell with Pa’s heartburn.’
‘No, Ma. The onions didn’t burn. Was jus’ summat on the stove.’
‘He won’t touch it if they’re burnt.’
‘They’re not, Ma. Everythin’s fine. Why don’t you just sit yourself down?’
Her mother didn’t move but loitered in the kitchen, eyeing everything with suspicion.
Tommy lumbered down the stairs, the smell of soap drifting with him.
‘Not got a beer?’ He looked at the boys and opened the fridge, took out a six-pack, and offered them around. They each took one and after they clicked the tins open, they stood around supping. Her brothers, all six foot or more, took their looks from their Pa. Large, cumbersome, masculine bodies, filling the space in her tiny house with the smell of oil and beer.
‘Just a sherry for me, dear.’ Trudy placed her arm on Tommy’s and gave him a thin-lipped smile.
‘Sure you don’t want one?’ Tommy offered Trudy a tin. He raised his eyebrows at Eli and winked at her.
‘Sherry will be just fine.’ Trudy held her chin up in the air. She didn’t like being teased.
‘You not got any of those pickles your Pa likes?’ Trudy said.
Eli took a breath.
‘No, Ma.’
‘Oh that’s a shame. I’d have brought some over, if I’d known you’d forget. I could go back and –’
‘I didn’t forget, Ma.’
Tommy shot Eli a glance.
‘I jus’ thought, with his indigestion an’ all, it might be better not to have them.’
‘Really,’ Trudy said.
After a moment, her mother edged her way back towards the stove, sherry in one hand, her clutch purse in the other.
‘What you do this time?’ her mother finally asked, pointing at her bandaged hand with her glass.
‘Oh nothin’. Just a small cut. Slipped at the store, caught my hand on somethin’.’
‘You were always so clumsy. It must be because you’re so disproportionate. I don’t know where you get it from. It’s not from your father and it certainly ain’t from me.’
Eli turned back towards the kitchen counter and spooned the onion mash into a large serving bowl.
‘Did you season the potatoes? I always like to put a drop of sour cream in mine.’
‘Tommy doesn’t like sour cream, Ma.’
‘Yes he does. He seems to like my potatoes just fine. Don’t you, Tommy?’ She jolted back around to the living area, where the boys were playing cards.
‘Don’t you, Tommy? You like my potatoes?’
Tommy looked up startled. ‘Sure, Ma. Course I do.’ He slammed his hand of cards onto the deck. ‘The nuts!’
‘Oh Jeeeeeez.’ The boys jeered and threw their cards onto the table.
Trudy cocked her eyebrow and smirked at Eli.
Eli tipped the greens into a dusty-pink chipped ceramic bowl and placed it on the table.
Eli’s Pa turned from the window. ‘Come on now, boys. Toys away.’
The boy’s slumped back in their seats and gathered the cards into the deck.
Eli removed the fried chicken from the oven and placed it on the centre mat.
‘Smells good,’ Tommy offered.
Payton, Eli’s youngest brother, served himself, piling up his plate with mash – no please or thank you.
‘Ain’t ya’ll forgettin’ somethin’?’ Trudy placed down her clutch purse at her side.
Payton dropped his fork with a loud clatter. The boys sat up on cue and clasped their hands.
Eli stared at her Ma, who had pressed hers together and bowed her head. She glanced towards Tommy, who shook his head and rolled his eyes.
‘Let us thank God for food when others are hungry, for drink when others are thirsty, for friends when others are lonely,’ Trudy said.
Eli noticed a smile resting on her mother’s lips.
‘And, Heavenly Father, please look after Charlie’s stomach, so he and I can sleep peacefully at night. Amen.’
‘Amen,’ the boys rumbled.
‘Happy Birthday, Pa,’ Bert said.
Eli took her mother’s plate and served up the chicken and mash with okra.
‘Just a small bit for me, dear. And don’t serve your Pa too much.’ Her mother placed her purse back on her lap.
Her Pa still didn’t know what to say to her after all these years. To be fair he hardly spoke to women at all. How he had ended up with her mother was still a mystery. Eli always imagined she had taken him by his arm and just forced him down the aisle. ‘Now don’t say a word, Charlie. This is the best thing for you. You’ll see’. He’d probably gone straight back to the garage after his own wedding too.
Eli’s Ma picked at the food. She prodded the mash with her fork, flicked the onions to the side, and took bird-like mouthfuls. She certainly didn’t get a figure like that by taking small bites. She glanced up and eyed up the boys’ plates, watching them shovel down the food. Trudy’s back arched. Eli’s father leaned forward and served himself up another helping, bigger than the first. Eli couldn’t help a tiny smirk in her mother’s direction.
‘Now you just watch what you eat there, Charlie. I don’t want you keepin’ me up all night, bellyaching. There’s only so much the Lord can do.’ Her lips tightened.
Eli’s Pa just piled up the mash and didn’t even glance at her.
Trudy ground her teeth and barely said another word throughout the rest of dinner.
Eli served up simple poached peaches and ice cream for dessert. The moment everyone sat back, their bellies full and the beer cans emptied, Eli’s mother rose from her seat. ‘I’m a little tired now, Charlie. Think we should be headin’ home.’
‘Home? We’ve only just finished and ya wanna go? Thought you were worried about my heartburn.’ He scraped the remnants of the melted cream from his bowl. ‘Let the old man digest his food, won’t ya?’ He put his fist up to his mouth and let out a loud belch.
Trudy shot him a look. She finally sat again, her arms folded against her sagging breasts, the clutch purse resting by her plate.
Tommy ran his finger around his bowl, licked the melted ice cream, and stood up. He walked to the drinks cabinet and poured the men a large whisky. The evening wasn’t over yet. Samuel shuffled the deck of cards and dealt.
There was never ever any mention of her brothers’ failed relationships.