Chapter 1 Gourmet Feasting
At the home of Natasha Simms, the family sits at the dinner table enjoying a gourmet dinner cooked by her mother and younger sister. Her uncle whose name is Dramel is the chief of police. He’s about five eleven. Like some of the old timers living the good life, he has put on some weight. His hair is black and gray. It’s short and nicely trimmed. He has a deep and hearty voice that could highly inspire you or astound you. He’s wearing a white shirt, dark blue pants, black socks, and shoes which is part of his uniform. He’s the first who is almost finished eating. Grabbing his butter knife, he pushes the remaining portion of his food onto his fork and eats it. As he chews it, he grabs his glass of punch and sips some to help wash down the remains. He takes the cloth napkin that’s by his plate and wipes his mouth. Afterward putting it down, he takes off the one that’s tucked over his shirt, grabs the one that’s on his lap, and sets them down near the other side of his plate. He then plays the role of the average uncle who has been served a gourmet dinner. Leaning back in his chair, and rubbing his belly, he looks at his brother saying,
“Mm—! Mm—!! Mm!!! Jermel! Do you know that wife of yours still has that gourmet touch?”
Jermel Sr. is the father of Natasha. She is the third oldest out of five siblings. Her father who is an inventor is also the owner of a computer and electronics cooperation. He’s a contributor to society. He is also an officer in the army reserves. He’s wearing a white shirt. The first four buttons of it are loosened. He’s wearing the vest of the dark blue three-piece suit that he wore to work unbuttoned, dark blue pants, black sock, and black leather loafer. After putting a fork full of food in his mouth, he moans,
“Mm hm.”
After chewing it, he looks at his brother saying,
“Her cooking was one of the many reasons why I married her.”
After taking a sip of his punch, and wiping his mouth, he smiles and looks at his wife saying,
“That and her many other qualities, I found were beyond compare.”
He picks up his fork and continues to eat.
“A— hm—! Hm—!!!”
His brother cheerfully responds clearing his throat. He then looks at Anita saying,
“A—, Anita! I think that he’s giving you a compliment!”
Anita is the wife of Jermel Sr., and the mother of Natasha and the rest of her siblings. She is an attractive and sweet-sounding woman who is about five eight. She had sufficiently established herself in the fields of business administration and management. Hoping to help correlate the affairs of such a large family, she became a stay at home mom. Wearing a dark blue cotton blouse with a design of small white roses, a pair of dark blue polyester slacks, dark blue socks, and black shoes she humorously looks at him and laughs a little saying,
“No—. I— don’t— think— so—.”
Surprised, her husband looks at her as his brother curiously replies,
“Why not?”
She leans closer towards the table looking at him wide-eyed saying,
“Because he’s using past tense.”
Dramel thinks for a second about what she’s doing. He then laughs. Anita smiling, looks at her husband awaiting his response. Somewhat dumbfounded, he puts his fork down and breathes in and out heavily as he chews his food. After swallowing it, he takes a sip of his punch, grabs his napkin, and wipes his mouth. He then turns, and looks at his brother saying,
“Alright! Aright!! Alright!!!”
He looks at his wife somewhat wide-eyed. He then says in a mild tone of voice,
“It’s one of the many reasons why I’m still married to you. O.—k.—?”
In the thoughts of love, he puckers his lips throwing her kisses,
“A— Mm Mm Mm Mm—.”
Quickly, he then starts eating. Dramel and Anita look at each other. The kids laugh. They look at them and laughs with them. As the laughter simmers down, she smiles and looks at her husband saying,
“Thank you sweetheart! You’re my sweetie!”
He stops eating. Casually, he replies,
“For what? It’s the truth.”
He starts eating again. Smiling, she replies,
“I love you—!”
“Mm— hm—.”
He moans as he continues to eat. Again, the kids laugh. She puts her elbows on the table. As she rests her hands on the side of her face, she looks at him contently. In the glow of love, she smiles, folds her hands, and places them underneath her chin. She continues to stare at him as he eats. Tanesha who is a bright young girl is about three ft. five. Not as much as her older sister, but a lot, she resembles her mother. She has somewhat of a babyish sounding voice. Like her mother and older sister, she has black curly hair that extends to the middle of her back. It’s fashioned in a single ponytail. She’s wearing a light blue shirt, blues jeans that have over the shoulder straps, white socks, and sneakers. Looking at her mother, she asks,
“Mommy. Could I have some more punch please?”
Her mother awakening out of her daze looks at her and smiles. She then replies,
“O.k. sweetheart.”
The younger Dramel who was named after his father’s older brother is about 3 ft. 8”. He is slim and has black hair that’s short, and nicely trimmed. Wearing a dark green shirt, a pair of black jeans, white socks, and black sneaker he looks at his mother responding,
“Could I have some more too—?”
She looks at him somewhat firmly. He puts his head down. He then looks at her responding,
“Please —.”
Smiling, she gets up and grabs a pitcher of punch. She goes over to Tanesha, takes her glass, pours her some punch, and places it on the table by her plate. She then walks over to the other side of the table to the younger Dramel and does the same for him. Afterward, she looks at the empty seat that’s next to him. She then looks at her watch. After thinking for a few seconds, she looks at her husband curiously saying,
“Sweetheart. I wonder what’s keeping Natasha.”
“Oh. She’ll be home.”
He replies assuredly. Skeptically, she thinks for a few seconds. She then replies,
“Yeah, but this isn’t like her. She would have at least called or done something to let us know that she was going to be this late.”
“Don’t worry sweetheart. She’s old enough and intelligent enough to take care of herself.”
Curiously, she again thinks for a few seconds. She then replies,
“Well—. Alright. If you say so.”
She sets the pitcher of punch down and takes her seat. A few seconds pass. The gate booth buzzes.
“Mm—! That must be Channa!”
Jermel Sr. quickly responds. He wipes his mouth and puts the napkin by the side of his plate. He takes off the napkin that’s attached over his shirt and lays it down on the other side of his plate. He grabs the one that’s on his lap and lays it down near the one that he had over his shirt. Quickly, he takes another sip of his punch. Again, he wipes his mouth.
“Excuse me!”
He says as he lays it on the table next to his plate. He then walks over towards the tv monitors.
“Channa. This time of the evening?”
Anita curiously says thinking aloud. Quickly, he glances at her. He goes over to her and kisses her on the cheek. He then continues on his way to the tv monitors. He notices that the secretary light on the monitor indicator is lit. He turns on the tv monitor that gives him viewing of the front gate. Noticing that it’s her car, he uses the zoom lens to get a closer look. The security guard remains in the booth until he gets a response. Jermel Sr. presses a button to confirm her visit. The security guard leaves the booth to greet her. Jermel Sr. presses the button that opens the gate and then another button on the monitor screen. The security guard waiting moves aside and greet her as she drives in. After she drives in, the gate automatically closes. Again, Jermel kisses his wife. He then says,
“Excuse me sweetheart! This should only take a few minutes!”
He leaves to greet his secretary.
About five minutes pass. He comes back into the kitchen. He kisses the large yellow envelope marked special delivery in big red bold letters that he has gotten from his secretary.
“What’s that?”
Anita curiously asks. As he sits down to finish eating, he lays the envelope on the table saying,
“Baby it’s success! It’s sweet, sweet— success!”
Her older brother Jermel who looks and sounds a lot like their father is the oldest of all the siblings. He’s about five nine and has short black hair that’s nicely trimmed. He recently returned home from the Annual Award Ceremonial Celebration that was given by the cooperation that he works for. He is wearing a white shirt with the first four button of it loosened. The black pants of the tux that he wore to the occasion, black socks, and black leather loafers. Looking around the table, he notices that practically everybody has finished eating. Smiling and looking at his mother, he says, “Let me clear the table for you mom.”
His father quickly swallowing his food replies,
“No, no! I’ll do it!”
After quickly taking a sip of his punch, he says,
“Why don’t you go in the living room and keep Channa company until I get back?”
Zealously, he replies,
“Channa! I’ll— be— glad— too—!"
To ease the fascination of him seeing her again, his mother quickly responds,
“Jermel. Would you like a piece of the dessert that I baked?”
The younger Jermel thinks for a few seconds. He looks at the chocolate frosted cake. The thoughts of it make his mouth water. Quickly, he replies,
“A—, yes! Mom, would you cut me a piece and put it aside for me please?”
She looks at her husband. She then looks at their son smiling and saying,
“O.—k.—."
Their son looks at her knowing that she’s intuitionally throwing him a hint. Smiling, he looks at her replying,
“O.—k.—.”
He then quickly rushes to the living room. Looking at him, she laughs. She then looks at her husband. He puts another fork of food in his mouth. As he chews it, he tilts his head to the side and shrugs his shoulders. She laughs heartier and shakes her head from side to side. A few minutes pass. Jermel Sr. finishes eating. Afterward, he goes around the table collecting the dinner plates and takes them into the kitchen. As he goes around it a second time, he comes to wife. She picks up her plate and places it on the pile of dishes. Smiling, she looks at his brother saying,
“You see Dramel. Didn’t I tell you? Don’t I have a tender loving and gifted man?”
Jermel Sr. smiles as he walks into the kitchen. Acting exasperated, she shakes her head from side to side frustratingly saying,
“That husband of mines seems like he never wants me to do anything.”
Avoiding the thought of it, she looks around the table inspiringly saying,
“Al—right, dessert is about to be served!”
As she stands to cut the cake, everybody at the dinner compliments her on the acknowledgment of dessert being served. Jermel Sr. joins in on the happy occasion and compliments her and Tanesha on a well-cooked dinner.
