Stan came in, grinning. He pulled Colby into an unexpected hug. Avery got the same treatment. He introduced Alice, who gave each of them a hug too. Surprisingly, Avery didn't get angry. Usually, that kind of breach of her personal space upset her. Instead, she ushered Alice into her tiny kitchen.
"This is so nice!" Alice said sincerely. "My kitchen is a hole. Three cabinets, one drawer and a broom cupboard. I put shelves in it and use it as a pantry."
"Thanks. The guys got me set up with the pegboards or I'd be screwed." Avery pointed to the wall to her left. Colby and Stan had painted and put up some pegboards so she had room for her kitchen implements.
"It was Stan's idea," Colby said from the doorway. "He's pretty handy with tools."
Stan chuckled, nudging him. Avery frowned, pursing her lips as she shook her head. The men burst out laughing. Alice looked on, puzzled.
"Sorry. It's what passes for male humor," Avery explained. "I've learned to avoid the words dick, Johnson, woody and tool."
"Boy, that would suck if you had to say something like Old Dick Johnson carved a Woody puppet with his tool," Alice said with a grin.
Avery tapped her knuckles, laughing. "Yes, it would. Fortunately, that doesn't come up often."
"But other things do," Stan added, strolling to the coffee pot.
Avery punched him before he got a mug from the cupboard.
"Ouch! What's that for? I just said—" he considered what he'd said. "Oh, I see. I didn't mean it that way, Avery, but that's pretty funny."
She raised an unfriendly eyebrow, but laughed.
"The food smells great," Colby interjected before conversation could degenerate further.
"It sure does," Alice added. "Do I detect a hint of cinnamon and nutmeg in the pancakes?"
"You do, good nose," Avery said with a grin.
They talked a few more minutes about the food as they served it to Avery's small table. The men offered to help, but judiciously stayed out of the way when Avery told them no. Once they were all seated, Colby offered blessing, at Avery's command. She was always very particular about that. One of her foster families had been very religious. Bits of their teachings stuck. Unfortunately, they'd been transferred to another state and that's when she'd moved in with the Polks. His blessing pleased her and she started passing the dishes. The four of them chatted over their meal, finding out more about Alice.
"I've lived here a few months. I came here to work on my masters in game design."
"No kidding?" Colby grinned. "That's Stan's area too. What aspect?"
"I do storylines and concepts. I'm good with programming, but it's not my strong suit. I have some awesome ideas, but I can't get them functioning."
Avery, whose chin was lowered toward her plate, gave a Lauren Bacall look, eyebrows raised. Her dark eyes flickered from Alice to Stan. Only Colby saw it. He got the idea and winked.
"You know, Alice, if Stan hasn't mentioned it, he's a pretty good programmer. One might go so far as to say—genius."
Stan blushed, his fork halfway to his mouth. He'd never say it himself, but it was true. He'd been working with computer programming since he was in middle school. He got into an accelerated class in high school, took college classes during his junior and senior years and graduated with a weighted GPA of 4.6. With his associates already complete, he started his college junior year at 18. Now, he was nearly done with his masters. All of this, Avery and Colby felt compelled to tell Alice.
Her blue eyes grew wider as they spoke. "No kidding? Oh, my gosh, me too!"
Colby and Avery exchanged a pleased glance across the table. She stood to clear her dirty dishes. Colby joined her. Stan offered to help, but he and Alice were still eating. Avery told him to stay put.
"Pretty cool," she whispered as they rinsed dishes and loaded the washer.
"Very cool." They did a secret knuckle bump.
There was a lull in the conversation at the table as the two of them finished with the dishes.
"Alice, what's wrong with your car?" Avery asked.
"I left my stupid lights on," she groused. "My other car, the lights shut off when the engine went off. This one doesn't, and I don't think the alarm is working. I wasn't paying attention and left them on all night." She pouted.
"Jumper cables," Stan said.
"I've got two sets. One I loan to Stan," Colby said with a smirk. "Because he'll return them. The others are junkers for Gavin."
"Does he give anything back?" Alice asked.
The three friends did a three way laugh, shaking their heads nearly in unison.
"Gavin has this ADHD problem," Avery began.
"No, I beg to differ," Stan interrupted. "He has an ADMP and FTPA problem."
Alice frowned. "I'm not familiar with either of those."
"It's our own designation," Colby explained. "ADMP means—"
"Attention Deficit Moron Problem," Avery completed.
"That," Colby pointed at her, grinning.
©2021 Dellani Oakes
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