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"You’ll have to excuse the les from the other shoulder "I did clean up, but if I had a few more days to prepare I would’ve hired the Molly Maids" She waves at us to follow "Co to tear up er we stand out here"

I hear the barking of a s muffled by a side e approach the door underneath the carport The blind moves erratically behind the curtain There’s another car parked in the drive, under the carport cover, but it’s old and looks like it’s been sitting up like that for several years When she opens the door, the smell of food, delicious food, instantly causes my stomach to ru us into the kitchen She sets her purse down on the counter; already her yapping Po to sniff longer,toward the kitchen table

Not having to tell me twice, I sit down in the nearest chair where an empty plate awaits me

Victor takes the chair next to me

The woman waltzes over with a ceramic bowl filled hipped potatoes in one hand and a plate full of fried chicken in the other and sets them down in front of us A smaller bowl of corn and a basket of rolls follow

Not feeling right about being first, I wait to see if Victor will reach for so before me

"What would you like to drink?" the woman asks "I have soda, tea, milk, lemonade"

"Water is fine," Victor says and then he looks atmy plate "From the tap," he adds at last second

I reach for the chicken first and pick up a piece with the tongs

"I’ll have water, too," I say, looking up at her as I drop a chicken leg on my plate "Thank you"

She serator and begins preparing our drinks, scolding the little dog verbally to send it strutting out of the kitchen and away frolasses, Victor and I both have put all of the food ant onto our plates

She sets our drinks in front of us

I thank her again and feeling better about ‘going first’ now, I pick uptwo fingers onmy hand back onto the table My face flushes and I lowerthe woure she ious type, that we have to hold hands around the table aardly while she talks to Jesus and tells Him how thankful we are for this food and for the troops and all that stuff

"Oh Victor," she says playfully, "you can’t be serious"

He doesn’t say anything

I glance at hi my brows Maybe he’s the one that feels it necessary to pray

Surely not…

The wohs and rolls her eyes a little bit as she reaches over and slides hly confused now I fold my hands in my lap underneath the table because I’m not sure what else to do with them

I turn to Victor, momentarily lost in the ht from the fixture centered above the table I s nervously and coain

"He doesn’t trust anyone," she says to me as she scoops some whipped potatoes from my plate, into her mouth She points her spoon at me and continues with her mouth full "Never has But it’s to be expected" She ss "And co in his line of work and all"

Her eyes veer to Victor’s and suddenly she changes the topic as if he gave her so that I missed by the tioes on, now taking a bite ofas you need Spare room is at the end of the hall" She takes a bite ofthe food doith her tea

Then she slides e of the plate and feeling unco she just double-dipped her spoon in

Victor slides his plate toward her next and she does the same to his food

It worries me that in the home of one of his contacts he feels the need to have her eat the food first to prove to him that she didn’t poison it I wonder briefly about our water but realize thatevery move the wo over ory’s house

Victor nods at ive the gerht in

The woman, whose na for the next thirty minutes while we eat Every now and then Victor will add a few comness is eventhan it ith me or Niklas But she doesn’t see of it than I would be If the two of theht now, it would be obvious to everyone in the restaurant that he is not at all into her and she’s coet the feeling that I’ on