The Mom makes dinner and she adds milk to the browning meat. She shares this cooking secret with the Girlfriend, says this is what softens the beef, it also takes acidity from the tomatoes. The Girlfriend says politely that she will try this, but knows her own Mother and Grandmother would disapprove, because that is not the right way to make Italian sauce.
The Boyfriend isn’t saying much in this conversation. They are seated together at a wooden table that faces the glass patio doors with tall pines outside and a swimming pool in the backyard. The Girlfriend is mesmerized by the pines and the stature they present in a way that makes her want to live in a tent. Part of her mind considers this while sitting awkwardly at the kitchen table. Maybe a cabin could happen instead? But she doesn’t see it with this Boyfriend; so, obviously, adding a cabin to their future is ridiculous. The Girlfriend feels clear about him now, in a way that she hasn’t been able to get for weeks.
The Sister comes in to discover there is a Girlfriend visiting for the first time. She doesn’t say hello. She speaks in a whispered sidebar with the Mom. The Sister has a large iced coffee with her, and repeatedly swirls it around with loud ice cubes inside the plastic cup. Aggressive energy goes hard into the non-stop swirling of the iced coffee for several minutes. It stops for a moment, and the Girlfriend thinks, okay she has calmed down. It starts again and sounds like a churning tornado about to explode, and the Girlfriend looks for the nearest exit, just in case.
The Boyfriend makes vague comments about the pool that no one answers. He then brings up pool parties in junior high, and the Girlfriend can’t believe that he is back on the topic of his adolescent popularity. The Sister says something cutting about junior high being 20 years ago, which the Girlfriend secretly appreciates, because he stops; but, then he swings around, yells, “You don’t know shit!” and the Sister throws the iced coffee at him, yells “No you don’t know shit!” and the Mom says it’s time to eat. It gets quiet and coffee with ice is everywhere.
The Girlfriend goes on to add a splash of milk to her browning meat, long after she doesn’t know what happened to these people.
The Boyfriend isn’t saying much in this conversation. They are seated together at a wooden table that faces the glass patio doors with tall pines outside and a swimming pool in the backyard. The Girlfriend is mesmerized by the pines and the stature they present in a way that makes her want to live in a tent. Part of her mind considers this while sitting awkwardly at the kitchen table. Maybe a cabin could happen instead? But she doesn’t see it with this Boyfriend; so, obviously, adding a cabin to their future is ridiculous. The Girlfriend feels clear about him now, in a way that she hasn’t been able to get for weeks.
The Sister comes in to discover there is a Girlfriend visiting for the first time. She doesn’t say hello. She speaks in a whispered sidebar with the Mom. The Sister has a large iced coffee with her, and repeatedly swirls it around with loud ice cubes inside the plastic cup. Aggressive energy goes hard into the non-stop swirling of the iced coffee for several minutes. It stops for a moment, and the Girlfriend thinks, okay she has calmed down. It starts again and sounds like a churning tornado about to explode, and the Girlfriend looks for the nearest exit, just in case.
The Boyfriend makes vague comments about the pool that no one answers. He then brings up pool parties in junior high, and the Girlfriend can’t believe that he is back on the topic of his adolescent popularity. The Sister says something cutting about junior high being 20 years ago, which the Girlfriend secretly appreciates, because he stops; but, then he swings around, yells, “You don’t know shit!” and the Sister throws the iced coffee at him, yells “No you don’t know shit!” and the Mom says it’s time to eat. It gets quiet and coffee with ice is everywhere.
The Girlfriend goes on to add a splash of milk to her browning meat, long after she doesn’t know what happened to these people.
