Dirty Faces- Book 1

Chapter 20: In a Fix

Chapter 20: In a Fix

"I wish you'd told me about this dang wedding," Kody griped. It was Saturday and he was standing over the wash basin in his aunt's kitchen, scrubbing the last of the day's axle grease from underneath his fingernails. It was understandable, him being in a foul mood, seeing as he'd been sleeping in a pallet in Jack's bedroom floor for almost a week. Allegedly, Ralph would be leaving again the next morning.

"It slipped my mind. But hey, Leslie's gonna be there," Jack replied, wearing that sly grin of his. Kody still looked annoyed. If he and Ginny were to stay here another night, there was no way they could avoid accompanying the rest of their family to the wedding this evening. And the first he had even heard of it had been when he got in from work this afternoon.

Jack stood up from the kitchen table and walked over to his mother's hoosier cabinet. "You know what you need? You need something sweet to knock that sour look off your face, and it just so happens I got just the thing to do the trick." He pulled two saucers from the cabinet and set them on the white, enamel counter-top.

"I don't want any more stack cake," Kody droned.

Jack grinned over his shoulder. "Good, because ya ain't getting any. Finished that off two days ago."

He cut two generous pieces then returned the cover to the plain, metal cake carrier; when he turned back around, the saucers each held a slice of yellow cake with chocolate frosting. He set one on the table and pulled out the chair for his cousin. Then, he opened a drawer and pulled out two forks, taking a bite before even handing Kody one. "I been eating on this here cake all day," he said, little flecks of yellow cake flying out of his mouth with each syllable.

Ginny appeared in the kitchen doorway, a defeated look on her usually guilty face. She had spent the last half hour in front of her aunt's vanity mirror as she attempted to tame the poor girl's hair, but the best she had managed was to pin down the more unruly cowlicks. Admittedly, a hat would have been more effective.

Jack frowned at her. "You look like you could use a piece of this, too."

Ginny's eyes went straight to the table and lit up. "Is that.....?"

"It is, indeed. Over there in the carrier. Getcha some."

Betty Paserella's yellow cake was the stuff of legend in those parts. Any self-respecting housewife would quite nearly give up her first born if it meant getting her hands on Betty's recipe.

Ginny practically skipped over to the hoosier cabinet and cut herself a piece from the already half-eaten cake. She pulled a fork from the drawer and leaned on the cabinet to savor the exquisitely moist, not-too-sweet cake paired with the thick, lusciously rich, chocolate frosting.

"Jack, are y'all about ready to head into town?" his mama called from her bedroom.

"I reckon so. We just gotta run by Kody and Ginny's to fetch their church clothes."

"Well why don't y'all head on that way. And go ahead and take that cake so they can have the reception table all set up and ready to go soon as the weddings over."

Ginny's eyes widened. She pointed with her fork at the slice on her plate and mouthed, 'This cake?'

"This 'un in the carrier?" Jack clarified.

"Yeah. Me and your daddy be out that-a-way shortly. I'm gonna fry up some okry to take, too, but they'll all be waiting on that cake."

Kody glared at Jack.

"I didn't know!" Jack whispered defensively.

They all hurried to eat their piece and wash up their dishes as silently as possible, then Jack swiped the cake carrier off the hoosier cabinet and they slipped out the back door. It had rained most of the week, leaving the path through the woods dangerously slick and they all struggled just to remain vertical as they stumbled down it. Once in the yard, they tiptoed through the back door, careful not to disturb Ralph in case he was napping or passed out, like they hoped he was.