Page 12 of Half Blind

They all shook their heads no, but Micah made eye contact with Helen. He wanted something. She was curious what he'd ask her for, which provided an opening.

“Micah, will you come and take a look at this cake,” she said as Alita moved to the side, allowing him to pass. The girl didn't let him get far as she shifted her position between her charge and the young girls who were eyeballing him like a bag of BBQ Doritos.

In the kitchen, he stood next to her, his dark eyes softening to those of a kid wanting another peanut butter cookie before dinner. He lowered his head to smell the cake as Alita engaged the girls.

Helen whispered, “I take it you have a special request for dinner? If we have it, I can make it. If not, I will need to run to the market really fast before the storm begins to get what you want.”

His eyes were nearly sparkling when he spoke. “Do you know how to make the potatoes and the gravy with the meaty bones of the neck of the pig? It is most satisfying with thecollagegreens and corny bread− it would be amazing,” he said, bending over the cake.

“You want me to make you neck bones, collard greens, and cornbread?” she asked, seeming confused.

“Si, por favor, I would greatly appreciate this meal,” he said, “but the meat in thecollagegreens, theculoof the Thanksgiving bird, and not the knuckle of the pig, if you will.”

“You want me to make collard greens with turkey tails instead of ham hocks?”

To her surprise, his eyes were dancing when he replied, “Exacto!”

He waved Alita over, and she opened her jacket to remove her wallet. On the counter she laid 10 one-hundred-dollar bills. Alita pushed the money towards Helen, who pushed the funds to Lemon, who’d also come into the kitchen.

“Time, supplies, room, and board,” Micah said, looking at Lemon. “Doc, may I see this lab of yours?”

Chapter 5- Allure

The evening, in Helen’sopinion, only became weirder as the night progressed. From the outside looking in, the evening would appear as a family having the friends of their teen daughters over for dinner. Helen, having located a nearby butcher, found the neck bones, along with thick sliced bacon, turkey tails, and a few good-looking lamb chops she purchased. Luckily, next door was a small market where she scored the greens, cornmeal, and a quart of buttermilk. Ruth Neary’s recipe for the cornbread called for the buttermilk, and to play it safe, Helen grabbed a bag of frozen corn to go inside to make the baked bread extra corny. When she returned from the store, she found Jared standing close by the barn.

“Hey, everything okay?” Helen asked.

“Yeah, he wanted to see her lab. The girl wanted to peek in too.”

“You standing guard in case she needs help?”

“Hm, something is off with that kid,” Jared said. “Did you see him drop that South American accent and ease right into, what was that, Texas, maybe Houston, accent? It feels weird. Really weird.”

“He’s on the spectrum,” Helen said.

“What?”

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