Winter Season

Eggs?

Oscar almost dropped his keys as his phone chimed in his pocket. It was Esther. “Hi.”

“Well hello there.” He could hear the smile in her voice. “Sounds like I caught you at a bad time.”

He chuckled, “it’s okay.”

“What kind of plans do you have tonight?”

“I was hoping dinner with you was on the menu.”

“Before you come over, put on an old work shirt.”

He raised an eyebrow. “Okay.”

“See you when you get here.”

“Love you too.”

She giggled, “you know I do.” Hanging up the phone.

His curiosity was peaked beyond measure. What did she have up her sleeve? He did as she asked changing clothes before he went over to her house. She was all giggles when he opened the door and he received a big ole hug.

“What did I do to deserve that?” He smiled.

“Nothing,” she wiggled and walked toward the kitchen. “Have you tried tuna since you’ve been sick?”

“Not really.”

“I made up a tuna steak for dinner with a salad and chive mashed potatoes.”

“God it sounds good.”

“I just hope it doesn’t hurt you.”

He kissed her on the forehead. “So why did you want me to change clothes?”

She giggled, “oh you have to wait until after dinner.”

“Tease,” he smiled.

“Yeah, I’ve been called that before.”

Dinner was wonderful. He didn’t eat much of the salad but tore into the tuna. “This is amazing.” He sat back in the chair patting his stomach.

“Well, if it doesn’t hurt you, we shall have to have it again. Have you tried fish tacos?” He raised an eyebrow. She giggled, “I’ll take that as a no. We had some tuna left. If you feel up to it, we can try those tomorrow.”

They cleaned up the kitchen. As she draped her dishcloth over the sink, she asked, “so are you ready to get messy?”

He raised an eyebrow, “that depends.”

She covered her kitchen table with two huge bath sheets. Then put a bowl with eggs in it on the table.

He gasped, “are we going to dye Easter eggs?”

“Yelp,” she danced around and giggled.

She had boiled two dozen eggs. There was a knock at her door. Oscar was surprised but not shocked when Chet and Bell came in. They had brought another dozen of eggs and a different dye kit from the one Esther had.

They spent hours dyeing eggs, laughing and just having a good time.

Oscar smiled, “you know I don’t remember the last time I’ve done this.”

“We do this every year at the nursing home. The seniors just love it.” Bell commented.

“Easter is my favorite holiday.” Esther smiled. “I love bunny rabbits. It has to be that Easter means spring. And once I became a Christian, I loved Easter even more because of the resurrection of our Lord and Savior.”

“How long have you been a Christian?” Bell asked.

“Not long, I’m still a baby.” She thought for a moment, “five or six years. I got baptized on the Sunday after my birthday that year.”  

“I remember you telling me the church was a sea of black uniforms.” Oscar added.

“It was.” She smiled. “The only other time I had ever saw so many officers in one place was at a funeral. It made me feel so proud to know that my brothers and sisters were there supporting me during this life changing moment.” She got a tub of mixed sorbet out of the freezer as Oscar got the bowls. “It was the hardest yet most uplifting thing I’ve ever done.”

Chet spoke, “you were a cop?” She smiled while serving the sorbet. “For how long?”

“Feels like all of my life.” Bell and Chet just looked at each other. “I know when we first met; I told you I couldn’t talk about what I did before I came to Kentucky again. I still can’t. But there is no harm in me telling you that I have spent many years in law enforcement.”

Oscar was licking his spoon, “if you had it to do all over again, what would you do?”

“I would either do something in forensics or be a medical examiner.”

“Really,” Chet was bewildered and Bell noticed.

“Even though I am married to one, it is a dangerous job. I think if it were my daughter, I’d rather she be unemployed than be a cop.” Bell voiced.

“Like everything else in life, it is a personal choice. I couldn’t do your job. I would be in a constant state of depression. I would get attached to my patience only to have them die. And Oscar’s job, no thanks. I have mad respect for teachers now that I have gotten to know what his life is like. The first smart mouth that called me fat ass would be picking his teeth up off the floor.”

Oscar smiled. “You ain’t all that.”

She just winked at him.

“You know, I still have a hard time wrapping my mind around you being a cop.” Oscar put his bowl in the sink.

“Why?”

“I don’t know. I just can’t connect the dots in my mind.” He wrinkled his brow. “There’s a gun in this house isn’t there?”

She smiled. “There are three.”

They said good night to their friends.

Winter Season