Piecing Me Together(34)

Nathan takes the cake out of my hand. It’s clearly in a box that’s labeled THE CAKE SHOP, but still he looks at his sister and says, “Oh no, you didn’t bake this, did you, Max?”

Maxine hits him. “Not in front of company, please,” she says.

He laughs, looks at me, and whispers, “At the last dinner she burned boiling water. Burned. Boiling. Water.”

I try not to laugh too hard, but I can’t help it.

Abby takes my jacket. Maxine lets me know that her mom prefers for people to take off their shoes. I take them off and add them to the row of shoes lined up against the wall. Everything in this house seems to have a place. No piles or messes. The walls look like curated museum exhibits. Maxine notices me looking at the art. “My mom loves collecting black art. It’s all through the house. That’s where Mia gets it from.” Maxine calls out to her sister, “Mia, what’s the name of this artist, again? The collection in the foyer?”

Mia yells, “Jacob Lawrence.”

“Right,” Maxine says. We walk into the kitchen.

Mia and Abby are putting food on serving dishes. I ask them if they need help with anything, but Mia insists that since I’m a guest, I should make myself comfortable.

I sit down on the small sofa—yes, a sofa in the kitchen, that’s how big this place is—and watch the siblings orbit around one another, going back and forth between the stove, the fridge, the cabinets.

Mia says to me, “So tell us about yourself, Jade. You’re an artist, right? I’d love to have you stop by my gallery.”

“Thanks, I’d like that,” I say.

Maxine says, “Yeah, I keep meaning to take you by there. I think you’ll like it. And, Mia, you’ll love Jade’s work.

Mia and Abby switch off with the questions:“What grade are you in?”

“Any siblings?”

“Do you like St. Francis?”

“What do you want to do after high school?”

Maxine interjects, “Don’t bombard my mentee with questions,” she says. “I’ve already told you, Jade is an artist and she’s also a scholar.” Maxine brags about me, telling them, “She’s so focused. I just know she’s going to be a successful woman one day.”

Mia arranges crackers and cheese on a tray. She cuts the slices of cheese carefully. “And so you live in North Portland, right? Man, that’s dedication—how early do you get up to get to school?”

“I get up at—”

“It’s not that bad, is it, Jade?” Maxine asks. “You get up at, what? Six o’clock?”

“Are you going to let the girl speak?” Nathan says.

I was thinking the same thing.

Maxine is acting like she’s afraid that if I open my mouth, I’ll say the wrong thing, embarrass her or something. She seems nervous. I still don’t get a word in because Mia says, “Well, I’ll stop putting Jade on the spot. Let’s talk about what our plans are going to be for summer vacation. I know it’s a ways away, but we should at least start narrowing down a place,” she says. She walks the tray into the dining room and sets it on a long table against the wall. The space is open, so even though she is in the dining room, I see her and the living room and even the staircase that must lead to the bedrooms all at once.

“I’m still on a high from our winter vacation,” Abby says. “Sun Mountain Lodge was magnificent. Let’s go there again.” Abby is rinsing spinach so she can make the salad.

“I don’t know,” Mia says. “I was thinking we’d go someplace tropical. Sun Mountain Lodge won’t be as fun without all the snow. The cross-country skiing was the best part.”

Abby adds, “Let’s not forget about that spa where we got the body and face treatment. I didn’t want to leave.” She places the spinach in the bowl and adds dried cranberries, goat cheese, and walnuts.

Nathan takes a piece of cheese out of the bowl. Abby slaps his hand. He takes another and says, “What about doing Victoria this summer?”

“Or northern California,” Mia says.

The four of them move around, setting the table, making the final preparations to the food. They never decide on a place.

I wonder what it would be like to go on a family vacation. Mom and I have never traveled anywhere together. One day I’m going to take her somewhere. Somewhere far from Oregon. Someplace you have to get on a plane in order to get to.

Mr. and Mrs. Winters come back downstairs, and we all go into the dining room. The food on the table looks so elegant. Like a feast for a royal family, but it’s really just baked macaroni and cheese, greens, candied yams, and ox tails with white rice. I wonder how it tastes, wonder if anything that looks this fancy can still taste how soul food is supposed to taste.

I sit down, Maxine beside me. She takes the folded linen napkin off her plate and drapes it on her lap, telling me with her eyes to do the same. I do.

After Mr. Winters prays over the food, I take the fork closest to my plate and begin to eat. Maxine gently taps me on my leg and whispers, “Wrong fork. Use the one farthest from the plate and work your way in throughout dinner.”

I already have salad dressing on my fork and I know better than to lick it off and place the fork back on the table, so I just freeze.

“It’s okay,” Nathan says. He picks up the wrong fork too and starts eating. He winks at me and I keep eating, but for the rest of dinner, I am careful to watch what Maxine does.