Chapter 39

No good deed goes unpunished, or unquestioned.

“Is it all in the garage, or did you just toss it into the tunnel?”

After assuring Dad I hadn’t just thrown it all in the tunnel, I led him thru the tunnel to the garage. He saw the huge pile of steel, so he decided we might as well load up his truck.

After putting cardboard down in the bed to protect it, we started tossing the large chunks of steel and iron into the back. The larger pieces took both of us, and even then we spent just over a half an hour on the project.

“I still don’t see how you moved so much so fast,” he said.

“It’s my superpower. Count on me for our luggage when we go to Hawaii,” I told him with a big smile.

When I got back to school Tuesday, so much had happened that I had completely forgotten the encounter in the bathroom. It was a surprise then, when I was leaving the buffet line to be gently directed to a different table.

“Hey Sam, we were wondering if you’d like to sit with us?”

“Sure, who are you?” I asked.

The guys chuckled, but one of the girls did the introductions, “You already know Amber, Heather, and Susie, that’s Tina,” said a stunning blonde, “I’m Angie, this is my boyfriend Ted, that’s Bill, Greg, Nick, and Bo.”

“Sit next to me,” Amber offered.

I stepped over the bench seat, setting my food down, and sat between Amber and Bill.

“I’m sorry for the trouble on Friday,” Bill offered, at which the whole thing came back.

“I’d forgotten it already. My apologies as well, I was having a very bad day. I hope your,” I paused to look him over, “Ego wasn’t too bruised.”

“Are you kidding? You picked me up like I was a little kid. We did some checking around afterwards, did you know that you have the second highest max of the entire sophomore class?” Bill asked.

“Seriously, how did you do it? Martial arts or just raw strength?” Ted asked.

I wondered myself, Ted hadn’t been there, but he was vaguely in my memory as the football team star player. I couldn’t remember if he was a wide receiver or quarterback.

“No martial arts, like I said, I was having a very bad day, and it was just one more thing that I wasn’t going to put up with.”

“Is everything ok?” Amber asked.

“It is now, I had just found out that somebody at the prison had tried to stab my Dad.”

“Oh wow,” she gasped.

Ted looked at Greg, and he nodded. “My Dad said that some screwy stuff went down on Friday. All of us have Dad’s who work as guards at the prison,” Ted said, not making clear if he included the girls in the all, or just the guys.

“Is he ok?” Greg asked.

“Yeah, he’s fine. The prisoner tripped and dropped his knife before he got close, so Dad hit his emergency button, and moved behind the closing gates to safety.”

“He’s lucky. The prison here is pretty tame, but my Dad’s worked at other places, and it’s not a nice place to be when bad sh, um, stuff goes down,” Bo added.

I ate my food as the conversation delved into second and third hand prison stories. Tina included one about her Dad. Eventually it came back to me.

“So I hear you’re going to help with the cheerleaders bake sale in October,” Angie directed.

“I can make the cookie dough, but I can’t bake nearly four hundred cookies by myself,” I explained to her.

“The boys are going to do the baking for you, they just need to be taught how,” Angie informed me, and them, considering the surprise on their faces.

“Oh, that’ll be ideal. Baking is the easy part,” I offered.

“You’re going to teach the footballers to bake cookies?” scoffed Susie, who had been mostly silent.

“Susie, I don’t know why you think having a dick makes it hard to cook, it’s certainly not a physical impediment,” I said as I mimed having big boobs with my hands.

Despite the others chuckles, she held on like a bulldog, “Seriously, what boy can cook?”

“You want a challenge? Name any dish, and I can make it better than you can. I’ve been cooking practically every meal for my family since I was 10. There’s very few things I do better than food,” I said laying it out.

“You have a deal!” she responded.

“Angie, can you arrange the rules, and tasters? I think it should be a blind taste test, so that way Susie doesn’t predispose anyone against her dish ahead of time,” I requested, recognizing Angie was the heart of the group.

“Of course, do you want to bring it to school, or make it in a head to head competition?”

“Doesn’t matter to me, but if it’s a hot dish bringing it here, and waiting for lunch might be a problem.”

“Don’t worry about that. The school will adjust for either, I’m just giving you a choice.”

“Would we get to use the Home-Ec room? I’ve only glanced inside but it seems to have everything needed. I’m confident regardless.”

“We should do head to head, maybe a mystery basket like Chopped!” Tina excitedly added. I recognized her as one of the ones who had dragged Susie off last time.

“No, I offered Susie her pick. She picks the dish, I’ll cook it better. If cost is an issue, I’ll even provide the ingredients,” I said.

Susie gave me a speculative look, “And if I said wagyu beef?”

“You’d be setting yourself up for failure, I’ve probably cooked it more times than you’ve eaten it,” I told her.

“Seriously?” she asked, taking me into consideration for the first time.