I dressed him casually in chino slacks and a polo shirt. I wore a pink dress that was belted at the waist and flared out. We looked like we'd stepped out of an issue of Life, circa 1955.
When we arrived, I could hear the barking.
"That's Brutus. Watch out for Brutus. He'll try to take your shirt off," I said.
"Oh, now, I don't think so," the Captain said, looking indignant. "There 'ent an animal alive I couldn't tame."
I rolled my eyes and grinned. "All righty then."
Estaban opened the door, and his face lit right up, until he saw the Captain.
"Oh. You've brought Captain Reynolds with you," he said dully.
"Yes, Estaban, where's your mom?"
"Come on back, everyone is on the patio."
We went out through the double glass doors and onto the patio.
"Hilda!" Agnes rushed over and gave me a hug. "I see you've brought Mal! So nice to finally meet you," she extended her hand and Mal shook it dutifully, "I've seen your stereo-and it did not do you justice."
"Thank you. I surely do appreciate the invite."
We cracked up.
"Oh now, no need to be so formal," Agnes said, "here, have a drink," she pressed drinks into our hands.
I drank. "Wow, that's good, try it Mal."
He gave it a sip. "Whoa. That's one powerful pineapple!"
"Yes. It IS delicious, isn't it?" Agnes smiled.
Tom, Agnes' husband manned the grill. There were hot dogs, hamburgers and brats. On the table nearby there were sliced red onions, tomatoes and lettuce. I was ready. I got a burger, no bun, with lots of onion and a side of potato salad. It was beyond yummy.
Cap ate a little bit of everything and drank quite a bit of beer. I had no idea that he liked beer so much, but I suppose when you come from a place where there 'ent any, you try and make up for it.
The dessert? Yellow cake with chocolate icing. Now, as most of you know, I like a white or a mint with CHOCOLATE cake. But I tried this. It was sublime, but I only had a small piece.
Of course, what kind of barbecue would it be without s'mores? Tom went into the house to get the marshmallows when suddenly there was a great commotion in the house. Estaban had also gone in to make a phone call and when he came out, Brutus bounded out with great aplomb. He approached, jumped up on me, and proceeded to renew our friendship as dog and chicken.
"Down, down boy," Agnes called helplessly.
But it was the Captain who saved the day. He went over to Brutus, removed him from me and said solemnly, "DOWN."
Brutus lay down and put his paws over his muzzle, whining.
"Now go!"
Brutus skulked off into the house.
"Wow, Mal, that was great," Agnes said. "You've got to tell me sometime how you did it."
"It's just a little way I have about me," he said, not so modestly.
I grinned. "Yup, it's just how he is."
"Anybody want some s'mores?" Tom brought out the marshmallows, which we roasted and then ate with chocolate squares between two graham crackers. Profoundly delicious.
Mal and I were on our third one when again, Brutus escaped, knocked me down and ate the s'more right out of my hand. He then turned to Mal, went up to him and clean ate his s'more, right out of his hand.
"It's okay," he assured Agnes. "it was a mighty fine barbecue," he turned to Brutus "s'more whore," he patted the dog on the head.
I remain,
Hilda Stinson
No comments:
Post a Comment