Uncle shook his head. “Maybe a little bit, but I wouldn’t want to ruin those fingers, and you will if you start washing dishes all the time.” He picked up a piece of chicken, and started chopping it into pieces. “You can be my prep cook. We need to get started on piecing desserts together. Banana strawberry pie, apple cobbler and chocolate cake. Plain and simple. Luke, set her up with chopping fruit and start working on crusts and fillings. Kota run the counter for now. Nathan find some tables to clear and do the dishes.”
The way Uncle relayed orders reminded me a lot of Mr. Blackbourne and Kota. Luke had mentioned other Academy folks might show up. Did that mean Mr. Taylor was part of the Academy? It hadn’t occurred to me before, but now that I was here, it really did make sense. If he was the owner, and he was in the Academy, he’d completely understand if North or the others had to disappear. He’d hire Academy members without question.
Luke had said he wanted to keep me a secret from the Academy. Was Mr. Taylor not a problem?
Nathan and Kota didn’t miss a beat. They were off together back the way we had come from. Luke nudged me toward the big silver door. He opened it to reveal the walk in freezer. “Let’s get what we need.”
The front of the freezer wasn’t as cold as I thought. There were collections of fruit and milk and other supplies that chilled on a shelf. Further in the back and around the side, there were cardboard boxes, but I couldn’t tell what was inside.
Luke found a box of strawberries, bananas and apples. He handed me a few of the boxes and collected some other supplies. When he was done, he nudged me out, kicking the door to the freezer shut behind us.
We put the boxes of fruit down on the silver table. Luke found a knife and a chopping board. He placed them on the silver table. He placed me opposite of where North was stuffing his mixture into a several baking dishes. I finally recognized it as some type of meatloaf.
Luke picked up a strawberry, and chopped off the green bit. “We need them this thin, Sang,” he said, slicing the strawberry. “Bananas, too. The apples, do like half this thin and half into chunks. Do the apples last, though. Start with strawberries.”
I nodded and Luke stepped out of the way. He hovered over me, making me nervous as I picked up a strawberry, cut off the green and started slicing.
When he was satisfied that I was doing it right, he clutched my hip, bringing his lips to my ear. “Perfect,” he whispered. He backed off, winking at me and started sorting the other ingredients he needed on the table next to me.
Uncle caught my eye, letting me know he’d seen Luke getting close. He winked at me, grinning suggestively. He approved, and slightly encouraged this relationship. I felt he hardly knew me, but I remembered he also heard of me before he met me. I wondered how much the guys had told him. Did he know my parents were gone?
I was doing fine with the strawberries, grateful for something to do and excited at the same time. I was working with them! Would I do this all the time? I thought it would be incredible. Luke was there. North, as grumpy as he was, was in front of me and focused. I was thinking once he wasn’t so tired and maybe calmed a little, this would be the best job ever.
And there was Silas and Nathan and Kota lurking around close by, too. Maybe it wasn’t as fun as hanging out at the pool or playing video games together, but if we had to work and do a job, this seemed like a great thing to do. Was this what their life was like when they were at the Academy, too?
North had put his meatloaf into one of the ovens and washed his hands. When he finished, he was toweling off and watched me. I sensed his dark eyes on me and it had my insides rattling. I knew my fingers were shaking. I kept slicing, trying to focus.
North grunted. He slapped the hand towel onto the counter by the sink. “Sang, scoot over,” he said, holding his hand out for the knife.
I blinked at him, my mouth open as he took the knife from me. “Why? I was doing fine.”
“You’re making me nervous. You’re about to chop a finger off,” he said.
Who was making who nervous? “I can do it.”
“Just open the bananas or something,” he said, picking up a strawberry and taking over my job.
I sucked in a breath, feeling humiliated. He wouldn’t even let me cut strawberries. I shot a look at Luke, who met my eyes but shrugged, trying to offer a reassuring smile. He wasn’t going to intervene. Maybe he was afraid of angering North when he seemed grumpier than normal. Uncle had his back turned, doing something over the stove and staring at it. I didn’t think he’d heard.
I sighed, making a grab for the bundle of bananas. I broke one off of the bundle.
Luke knelt by the silver table and fished out a dish from the shelves underneath. “Put the clean bananas here.” He put another dish beside it. “Put the peels here. It'll make cleanup easier.”
I nodded, turned the banana over in my hands and holding the bottom.
North’s dark eyes narrowed on me. “Are you paying attention?” he asked.
What now? “Yes.”
“You’ve got it upside down.”
I checked it. I was holding the banana stem side down. “Yes,” I confirmed.
His eyes flared. “What are you doing?”
“Opening it,” I said, tilting my head and moving my hands to the banana’s bottom, pushing my fingers around the black nub end.
“Do you not eat bananas?” he asked. “You split it from the stem.”
“No, you don’t,” I replied, pausing in what I was doing. My heart raced. Was this the aftermath from the drugs like he’d warned me about?
“Sang,” he barked at me, dropping the knife hard on the table and snatching the banana from me. “You open a banana like this.”
“I know how to open one, North,” I barked back.
He flinched, but narrowed his eyes at me as he tried bending the stem. The banana bent, but the skin didn’t split open. He grunted, tracing the edge of his fingernail along the rim and splitting the skin that way.
I smirked after him. “You’ve bruised your banana.”
“You can cut that part off.”
“But you took my knife,” I said. “Will you please let me do my job? I can open a stupid banana.”
“You were fucking around.”
“I didn’t even do it yet!” I flared my eyes at him and my voice waivered to a squeak at the higher pitch. “You took it from me before I could open it.”
“What are you squealing about?” Nathan asked, wandering in with a tray full of dishes. He placed it by one of the sinks, wiping his brow and turning to us. “What’s wrong?”
“North won’t let me open a banana.”
Nathan raised an eyebrow. “Dude. Seriously?”
“She’s doing it wrong,” North, said. “She’s getting back at me for last night or something.”
“Good,” Nathan said, grinning and turning to start up the hot water.
“What? No!” I said. “I was opening bananas. I’m not getting back at anyone.”
“Then do it right,” North said. He put down the banana he was holding and folded his arms over his chest. “Do it.”
Nathan smirked at us, leaning against the sink with his hands behind his back. He was enjoying this! When I glanced over at Luke, he was doing the same thing, quietly enjoying the show. Uncle, too, was behind the counter, observing, his lips tilting in a smile.
I twisted my lips at North, embarrassed that he was making me feel like an idiot for something so small. Why was he being so mean? I snapped another banana from the bundle, held it stem side down, putting my fingers to the bottom black nub.
“I said do it right,” North barked, holding out his hand and reaching to take the banana from me.
I took a step back out of his reach. I glared at him, pinched the black end of the banana, and the peel split easily under my fingers. I pulled the peel away, revealing a clean banana without bending the stem or bruising. “I can open a stupid banana, North.” I held it out to him, showing what I’d done.
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He paused, his mouth falling open. He zeroed in on the banana and then at my face. “Do it again.”
I stepped forward slowly, wondering if he was tricking me or was going to pop me on the thigh or somewhere else like the others seemed to do when I wasn’t doing something right. I snapped another banana from the bundle, held it stem side down, pinched the bottom and split the peel easily. I pulled the skin clean from the banana.
His eyes followed what I was doing, the glare suddenly gone and in its place genuine curiosity. “Where did you learn that?”
“Monkeys.”
His eyes widened. “What the hell do you mean?”
“It’s how monkeys open bananas.”
Nathan and Luke busted out laughing together, hands on their stomachs.
“Oh my fucking god,” Nathan said, wiping his eye. “Peanut, that’s awesome.”
“She just told you, North,” Luke said, beaming.
Uncle’s shoulders shook like he was laughing. He seemed pleased again. There was something else hidden under his quiet smile. It seemed like approval, like he expected the boys to be friends with someone like me.
North chuffed, shaking his head and moving back to cutting the strawberries.
I sighed. Was he done picking on me? I didn’t mean to be so smart aleck about it, but he didn’t even give me a chance. I calmed the fire in my heart, setting myself up to split bananas, cleaning the fruit and dropping the peels on to the plate.
When the others got back to work and I was starting on another round of splitting open a second bundle of bananas, North elbowed me in the arm.