April 2012 Challenge- In the Kitchen- Eight Drabbles
For the April 2012 Challenge at Brokeback Drabbles, Shorts, and Challenges- Seven canon drabbles (and one au drabble)
Lightning Flat 1963
She gave her boy a piece of cherry cake, and he gave her a smile, like he always did. Her Jack always smiled a lot. He looked thin, and he was quieter than usual. The work up on Brokeback must not have suited him this year.
He had a mark high on his cheekbone, looked like it came from a fist. She’d seen plenty of bruises on his face over the years.
At least this time it wasn’t his daddy who punched him. She didn’t ask who did.
She and Jack were good at not asking each other about bruises.
Riverton 1963
Privately she thought the place was a dump, and the kitchen was ugly. But Ennis had to work, and the place came cheap with the job. She could fix it up; Ennis could paint the kitchen a nice sunny yellow, that would be cheerful. And she’d put up some pictures and make curtains. It would look just like something from Ladies Home Journal.
Marriage was about compromise, after all. Her mama had taught her that. The man was the head of the family, he made the decisions.
The kitchen wouldn’t bother her once there was a baby on the way.
Childress, 1966
This kitchen sure was fancy. He doubted his mama would recognize half of the things in it, and she sure would have been surprised by the color of the stove and refrigerator. Harvest Gold, the salesman had called it.
He’d wanted a smaller house, something that would be easier to pay for out of what they were actually making. And how much room did two people need, anyhow?
But L.D. had insisted. “Nothing but the best for my little girl,” he had blustered, his face red.
So the kitchen was the best. It was a shame Lureen hated to cook.
Riverton 1967
As soon as he’d heard Alma say, “You know anybody named Jack?” his heart had started pounding. He’d had to fight hard to keep his expression normal.
He studied the words. Friend. Long overdue. Write and say if you’re their.
Fishin’ buddy, he’d told her. Fishin’ buddy. Where the hell had that come from?
He and Jack had tried fishing up on Brokeback, once. They’d whittled a couple of thin branches into something that looked like a pole, bent some wire to make hooks.
They’d made love on the grassy bank of the stream, hungrier for kisses than for fish.
Childress 1970
It was early, six a.m., and he was standing at the sink, rinsing out the cereal bowl from his hasty breakfast, anxious to get on the road to see Ennis. He’d filled the truck with gas the day before, put the camping gear and his clothes in last night.
He’d stop and buy some lube at a drugstore along the way, probably throwing some toothpaste and snacks in the basket so the lube wouldn’t be so obvious. He knew better than to think Ennis would bring any.
No amount of talking would convince Ennis that heterosexuals sometimes bought lube too.
Riverton 1972
His girls were studying him, frowns on their little faces. He said, “Come on, Junior, help me set the table. Your mama left us a casserole and a salad. You like salad, right, Jenny?”
He knew they’d heard the argument in the kitchen, he and Alma trying to keep their voices down, but the angry words getting loud anyway. Then Alma had slammed out the door.
Evenings without Alma weren’t much fun. The girls missed her, and he was no good at helping with homework and reading bedtime stories.
But the truth was, evenings with Alma weren’t much fun either.
Don Wroe’s Cabin 1979
Jack was still sleeping, but Ennis had always been an early riser. A lifetime of ranch work had seen to that.
Ennis started breakfast. He cracked eggs into a bowl and mixed them up with a fork. Jack liked scrambled eggs. They were out of bacon, but there were some sausage links, so he got them going in a cast iron frying pan.
They were having a real good time at the cabin; he was glad he’d borrowed it for the week.
He planned on spoiling Jack all day. See if he could wipe that sad look off his face.
AU- Lightning Flat 1989
They’d moved back to the Twist place after Jack’s old man died.
His mama was living in town. Turned out she didn’t like living out in the middle of nowhere, and once she was a free agent she’d found a nice little apartment just down the street from her church.
They ate all their meals in the kitchen. It needed some modernizing, but licking the ranch into shape took all their energy. There would be plenty of time for fussing with the kitchen once the ranch was a going concern again.
For once in their lives, they had enough time.