Just Good Friends

Chapter 56

SAM's POV

~Sunday, after work~

When I entered Jake's house, I was attacked with the smell of something spicy and greasy. As I followed him into the kitchen, I saw a black cast iron skillet full of something that was frying in oil. It smelled like chicken.

"Ay, you're right on time! I'm just frying the chicken wings now..." Jake enthuses as he runs to the stove with a pair of tongs, his back towards me as he works on the food.

"You frying chicken wings? Ooh..." I reply with an impressed smile. "No wonder it smelled like a Black grandmama's kitchen up in here."

Jake chuckles a little then says, "Well, I'm almost done so we can eat in a minute. Make yourself comfortable, Sam. By the way, you look good..."

"Thank you," I reply to his compliment.

I glance at the long dining room table which sat in the middle of the kitchen -- the same table that held 10 laughing and smiling people just last week for Ms. Rosalita's birthday. The table had a simple dark green table runner down its center, and there were only eight wooden chairs today. I hung my small purse on one of the chairs and caught glimpse of the setup. There was a big bowl of some kind of rice dish with two sunny side up eggs on top, then two sets of a smaller bowl, plate, glass, and silverware on either side of the table.

"What's this?" I asked with curiosity.

Jake turned his head to glance at you and said, "I made some kimchi fried rice with corn cheese to go along with our chicken wings. How does it look?" He smiles.

"Ooh, Korean food? It looks good! It's making me hungry..." I reply while rubbing my stomach.

"We're gonna fix that real soon," he replies.

"Do you need help with anything?" I asked.

"Nah, go ahead and take a seat. I'm pretty much finished." I watch as he takes the perfectly cooked chicken wings out the skillet and sets them on a bed of napkins on a large plate. Mm, it smells so good!

"You sure? I'm here to help, not just sit and look pretty... although I can do that too," I say with a flip of my hair and a grin.

"Oh, I know you can," he flirts back. "Actually, you can grab the sauces from the refrigerator."

"Okay," I reply as I walk to the fridge to my right which has lots of magnets on the front of it of random foods, quotes, and other icons. I open the fridge and am surprised to see it packed with different fruits, canned drinks, packs of tortillas, and Tupperware containers. "Um... where's the sauce at?"

"Oh, it should be on the lower right side," Jake replies as he places the plate of chicken on the table and cleans up the stove. "It should be buffalo, honey bbq, and Korean bbq."

I look down and see the three bottles of sauces that he's talking about sitting next to a bottle of syrup and a pack of batteries. You grab the bottles of wing sauce before asking: "Why do you have a pack of batteries in the fridge?"

"Oh... don't ask. I don't really know either but it's a Hispanic thing," he chuckles which makes me giggle.

I close the fridge and set the bottles of sauce on the table as Jake grabs another small plate and begins pouring small portions of each different sauce on them.