a simple church dinner
Who: Arden and Janey
Where: Church! Potluck-dinner-thingie
When: Evening
If there was one thing Arden hated more than going to church on Sundays, it was going to church on any other day of the week. Right now she was very much not-the-happy-camper, shooting dirty and occasionally threatening looks at her schoolmates; and adopting the air of a grumpy cat whose displeased glaring went unnoticed by the ladies that pinched her cheeks and cooed "my, how you've grown" ...as if they didn't see her every Sunday. And the stupid dress she had to wear was annoying too: it was all white and frilly and itchy -- this was just a dumb dinner, not her First Communion.
Yet even though it was supposed to be a dinner, they hadn't been able to eat anything! Seriously, what was that about? Her dad had been telling her not eat anything at home because they were coming here, yet the food was just splayed across the table and covered up and she was stuck standing around having to smell it!
She broke away from the gaggle of touchy-feely ladies now talking to her father, pausing only to shoot them a look reminiscent of a hissing cat before inching her way towards the table. As she got close, Arden kept her eyes on the chubby priest who stood guard over the food, shooing away and threatening excommunication at any kid who glanced too long. Of all the priests, he was her least favorite. In fact, when her Sunday school teacher prattled on about the battle between Good and Evil and and picking sides, Arden imagined it happened much like a kickball match where the Devil and Jesus were Team Captains -- and she was pretty sure it was only because Jesus got Last Pick that the chubby priest was here.
As the Chubster became distracted with an angry red-face lecturing at a pair of twin boys, Arden's hands went to work behind her as she stood innocently in front of the table, facing the crowd. It took a second or so for her hand to grab hold of a small mini-sandwich, but when it did she couldn't help the wide, not-so-innocent grin at her triumph. Ha, success!
The church hall was already
The church hall was already filled with people, and the potluck was barely underway. Janey was preoccupied shuffling dishes around on the tables as more food continued to arrive, as well as doing a bit of serving and her share of socializing and greeting. Her casserole had been one of the first to go, as usual, and the compliments were endless, but they didn't mean much. Her mind seemed unable to free itself from the worries of Danny and the sick girl, eve now, she felt she was floating around the room, barely half-alive in her own body. The exhaustion that seemed to weigh down each of her bones, and her face ached from forcing the smile.
She was surprised, though, at least a little, to see Kess' daughter milling among the parishoners, looking mischievous. She hadn't seen Kess and doubted she would be around, but for Kess's own sake Janey almost wished she would. She ached for the woman's loss of her daughter, even if it was so drastically different than her own.
But her eyes and her heart were pulled back into the moment by a harsh voice demanding a fresh serving spoon, and she fled quickly back to the kitchen to find one.
As Arden noted yet another
As Arden noted yet another adult -- Mrs. McKinnon -- abandon a table, she was immediately there with a plate in hand, grabbing a serving more plentiful than any nose-in-her-business adult would've allowed her to have. But, whatever, they were all too busy discussing the Most Boring Details Ever amongst themselves to pay her any mind. She didn't even bother to sit down, half eating off her plate, grabbing another helping before her current one had even been finished.
However it had been awhile since she'd had a really good homecooked meal -- her dad just wasn't 'Mr. Mom'. At all. And whatever she was greedily consuming was pretty awesome, so Arden was oblivious to keeping a look-out for any adults that might notice her impolite dining.
When Janey returned to
When Janey returned to serving, she watched Kess's daughter, near the food, eating like a street child. With a pang she recalled D.G., not that the girl was ever far from her mind. Janey had spotted a few nuns in the crowd, and decided that tomorrow she'd go to the orphanage asking after D.G. At the very least they could give some details about the girl when she had been at the orphanage, years ago, and maybe confirm Janey's suspicions as to why she looked so familiar. Or, in the best scenario, maybe the girl would be there, although Janey wouldn't hang her hopes high on that one.
Arden wasn't sure how long
Arden wasn't sure how long she had been at usurping the dish before her, and that fact was what brought her to recheck her surroundings and notice that, oh, she was being watched.
Instead of hastily removing herself from the table and making off with her wares, she only kept Mrs. McKinnon's gaze as she finished taking her last scoop; then, she calmly turned around to face the woman directly. Facing down adults wasn't too hard for her to do -- she was already level with most of the women in this room. But her face expressed a defiance that betrayed an age of twelve years. Arden would've crossed her arms, but one was holding the plate, so she had to make do with the gesture one-handed. "What?" she demanded.
--
Janey was startled to find Kess' daughter standing before her, empty plate in hand and eyes burning. "I'm sorry--I didn't mean to stare," she said quickly. Lost in thought, she'd locked her gaze on the girl without really meaning to. "Would you like something more to eat?"
Arden eyed Mrs. McKinnon
Arden eyed Mrs. McKinnon skeptically, almost suspiciously, as she debated the answer. She was no longer hungry and was half-tempted to say 'no' just to spite the woman; but her father really was no decent cook: it was usually sandwiches, sandwiches, frozen dinners, sandwiches, canned spaghettis, instant meals... so, yeah, Arden felt she had a lot to make up for her, and her lack of hunger could go shove itself into a wall!
"What'dya got?" she asked, nose crinkling, head arching just a bit forward as curiosity creeped through her distrust; although that certainly wasn't all gone, because as she leaned towards the food Arden's gaze flicked back up at Janey for a moment, suspicious. It was the kind of look that not only expected Janey to do something, but seemed to dare the woman into trying.
"Sweet potato souffle and
"Sweet potato souffle and macaroni salad here if you want some. But there's plenty of variety on the table, as you can see--fried chicken at the other end if you're interested!" Janey said with false enthusiasm, waving an arm over the spread of dishes stretched before her. The girl seemed anxious, and Janey was trying her best to show that she wasn't a threat. What was it with girls these days thinking Janey was out to get them?
Arden thought for a moment,
Arden thought for a moment, and then unceremoniously dipped her spoon into the sweet potato souffle to try a bit. This? Was good. She was tempted to dig in for another, proper serving spoons being utterly ignored, but she was hesitant. There was very little room left in her stomach, and Arden was unsure whether to use it up with another bite of the souffle or to try something new. After a moment she glanced back up at Janey, arm half-crossed, "Which one d'you like?" Maybe Arden would take her up on it, or maybe she'd purposely pick something different. She didn't know yet.
--
Janey watched with amusement as the girl freely sampled the dishes. "The macaroni is definitely my personal favorite. But don't forget to leave room for desert!"
Gah!
Ignore T.T.
Arden's face scrunched up in
Arden's face scrunched up in displeasure, none too happy that she had forgotten dessert; and none to pleased with the bearer of that news either.
She put the plate down to cross her arms properly, "I don't like macaroni anyway." It was a sentiment that had been adopted all of, oh, five seconds ago. Her retort would've been paired with a sneer or a sticking out of the tongue, but Arden was mindful that she was in church and her dad was somewhere milling about. So the sneer was only evident in her voice.
--
Janey had to stifle a laugh at the girl's response. "Well, then can I get you some desert? I'm Janey, by the way," she said, smiling. She couldn't for the life of her recall the girl's name, though she was certain Kess had told her. It was probably better that way though--if she were to use it with this girl she'd never met, she might have to explain knowing her mother, and she didn't want to mess around in that situation.
Arden was a bit thrown by
Arden was a bit thrown by Janey's unperturbed reaction -- it was friendly even. And no adult actually smiled at Arden after being in her presence long, and for good reason: she was the least favored amongst the school faculty, an utter pain in the neck to her Sunday school teacher, and even on her best behavior passive-aggressively vexed nuns and clergy. And she regarded all these facts with more-than-haughty pride.
So Janey's smiling brought back the skepticism to Arden's expression, and the girl's eyes narrowed as she tried to figure just what exactly the woman was up to. In her opinion and experience, no adult other than her father was nice to her unless they had some trick up their sleeve and wanted something... and even now her Dad sometimes seemed a bit fishy. "I'm not supposed to call adults by their first names," she retorted stubbornly, "it's impolite." Not that Arden ever really did what she was supposed to, unless it was to cover up for some greater mischief.
--
That did it. Apparently, telling the girl her name had set off her sirens for suspicion. "Well, it is usually, but not if the adult tells you their first name," Janey said, toning down the cheerfulness. She took a few steps to the left and began surveying the desserts, trying to decide which the girl might like.
Arden again found herself
Arden found herself caught in a battle between being wary of Janey, being unwilling to back down because she felt wary, and being genuinely curious as to what was there for desserts. Because, now that dessert was mentioned, Arden found herself with a bit more room in her stomach than she previously thought.
So she finally took a couple steps of her own, not close enough to stand before Janey, but enough so to be in grabbing distance of whatever dessert(s) struck her fancy. ...Well, most of them. Of course Arden would spy and decide on the one dessert that was out of reach. "I want that one, Mrs. McKinnon," she demanded, pointing at her target. She addressed the woman by her surname simply because Janey wanted otherwise. Had she stressed being called 'Mrs. McKinnon', Arden would've just as blatantly gone with 'Janey'.
--
"Mrs. Shenan's triple layer fudge bars--everybody's favorite," Janey said, shifting a few steps closer to the tray of desserts. She placed one in a napkin for the girl but, before holding it out to her, said, "Now, what do you say...?" Generally, she figured it was a parent's job to make sure their children minded their manners, but obviously there was no parent around, and the girl's belligerent tone of voice had gotten under Janey's skin.
Arden's haughty scowl gave a
Arden's haughty scowl gave a very 'We are NOT amused!' vibe as she eyed Janey. It wasn't the first time an adult had used those exact words to coax out a 'please' from her -- not. at. all. But Arden wasn't a girl who gave in to such a simple (and wholly warranted) demand. She stared Janey down, testing to see whether she could wait it out before either the woman or her arm gave way, giving Arden her 'please'-free yummy.
And Arden, as stubborn as she could be for the sake of spite, could have held out for a long while. She was the bane of many a teacher's existence for a reason. But a better idea came to her, one that got desserts in her stomach faster with just as little relenting:
Arden opened her mouth. But instead of 'please' the child's nose scrunched into a disdaining frown, "Oh, fudge? I like vanilla better." With that her sights set back to the desserts within reach, and Arden grabbed at a piece of shortcake and took a bite, eyes flicking back up at Janey with a shine that told just how impressed she was with herself at that little move.
--
Kess's daughter was a piece of work, of that Janey was certain. She wondered if that was due to her mother's absence in her life. She looked at the girl, whose face wore a smug expression, then glanced around briefly, wondering if her father was even present. She wasn't really sure how to react, and she was losing patience, so she simply said, "Well, enjoy!" Then she gave her brightest smile, to spite the girl, and disappeared back into the kitchen.
Arden was none-too-happy
Arden was none-too-happy when Janey walked away, the self-pleased expression dropping as the woman's back turned. What? Janey wasn't supposed to walk away, she was supposed to walk away! Not that she had had any intentions of walking away: for all her beef and low opinions of adults, Arden just couldn't help being drawn to bugging them, or straight-out harassing them, or just giving them abuse in general. So Janey's sudden departure left her sulky, which soon just left her annoyed and more-than-slightly angry. Whatever. It didn't matter. Just more prove that adults just couldn't be trusted, in Arden's opinion.
And she stepped further up the table, leaned forward, and grabbed the previously-dismissed triple layer fudge bar out of some spite of her own. She would've stuck out her tongue, but she was in church and her father was nearby. Instad, Arden took a large bite from the fudge bar, shooting a peeved look in the general direction of the kitchen. Then she walked away, giving a small and un-noticed kick to the table before doing so.