"French Vanilla"
Yuki, Rosa and I decided to sleep over at the Eta cabin. Despite the excitement, we slept like infants with dry diapers. I woke up with messy hair and soreness in the usual places. Other than that, I felt great! I could not wait for this new day to begin.
It was after breakfast when the excitement started. I had my sunny side up eggs with my jelly toast (Didn't have much of an appetite) when there was a commotion in the kitchen. I was a little out of focus at the time and Rosa was still eating. Only Yuki paid close attention to Charles's loud voice. When Emma gave Yuki her scones, however, her attention took her elsewhere. Well, a few minutes later, we found Pam coming out of the diner's kitchen. None of us knew what she was feeling at the time.
"Well, Kendra, I got my first paycheck and it's Thursday. Let's head to Home Depot and buy some supplies." She walked a bit quick as she took off her apron. "Yuki, Rosa, come with me."
"Pam, don't you want to take a shower first before we hit the mall?" Yuki suggested. "I mean you were in the kitchen. The last thing you want is a stench of sweat...and pepper-onion juice."
Pam took one big whiff at her underarm. She showed repulse at her odor and nodded in agreeance. "Right...I should take one. But if one of you enters the bathroom to see me naked-"
"WE WON'T!"
We waited outside the Eta house during Pam's shower time. Knowing Pam, it would take about an hour to clean herself. The one thing we know about Pam is she has a thing for cleanliness. It was odd. When she is in the tub, it was peaceful. But we heard a lot of moaning in there. Yuki, Rosa and I found it strange at first. It was then that Theresa showed up with her mail that we heard our friend moan out a name.
"Whoa! What was that??" Theresa fell on her butt, throwing her mail into the air. She scrambled and caught some of her mail as we helped her collect the envelopes. "Great Lord above! It's true! The resort is haunted!"
"Calm down, Theresa!" Rosa grunted with disbelief. "That was not a ghost I assure you. That came from Pam's bathroom. It was her!"
"Oh, thank God! She had me for a moment there!"
"Sorry she scared you." I complied to the divorcee. "For the record, she never was so verbal in her bath time. Speaking of which, Rosa, who the hell is Daniel?"
Rosa blinked her eyes and shook her head. "I have no idea! Yuki, who the hell is Daniel?"
"Don't look at me! I haven't a clue!"
Theresa sighed and stood, shuffling her mail in her hands. "Oh well, if it's all the same to you, I should go back to my cabin to file the bills. After that, Home Depot run."
"You're going to Home Depot?" Rosa asked her.
Theresa stood and fidgeted her fingers on the envelopes. "Why sure. I have decided to move back here in Orlando. If I go back to Atlanta, I'd be facing something depressing. I don't want to go back where my heart broke into pieces. Besides, it's about time I should move on."
"So, you're going to fix your cabin?" Yuki asked her as she started to walk. Theresa shuffled her legs, feeling rather good about herself. Yuki, Rosa and I happened to follow her. She didn't mind some company. "I...I mean we don't mean to pry and all."
"No, you're not prying. Anyway, today I finally accumulated enough courage and signed my divorce papers. Now my current ex will have his life and I have mine."
"Good on you!" I applauded her action in spirit, cheering for her. "I guess that means you can move on with your life, right?"
"Yeah." Theresa stopped at her porch and looked at the banisters. "Well, this is my starting project. These wooden stair bannisters have seen better days!"
They have. They were covered with moss and mushrooms started to pop at the boards. I shook my head at the buttons when a shrill echoed the woods. "
What the hell?? What are you, seven?? Why did you disappear on me?"
"Sorry, Pam!" Yuki cried. "We got carried away talking to Theresa. She signed her divorce papers and is moving back here!"
Pam was aloof and scrunched her face. "Well, good for her. I don't care. Listen, we need to cash my check so we can buy our things for our cabin."
"Your cabin?" Theresa asked. "But your cabin is fine as it is."
"No." I said to her. "No, not the Eta cabin. She is referring to the recreation cabin in the former cabin 13. We are giving that a total make-over."
Theresa's face showed her reluctance to accept our spirit of sprucing that cabin. "You do know that the cabin was built on top of an Indian cemetery."
"You and Billy believe that cabin's cursed?" Pam asked with disgust in her face. She grunted from that hogwash. "I don't know which one is worse, you or that twinkie addict?"
Rosa rolled her eyes. "Theresa, would you mind driving us to a couple of spots?"
"No trouble at all! Let me grab my purse!" As Theresa ran to her cabin, Rosa turned back to Pam. "How are you gonna cash your check, btw? Your home is in Boston and you are currently residing in Maimi due to college. We're in Orlando and you don't have a bank account in here!"
"Or do I?"
We didn't think she had an ace up her sleeve. During our ride to the bank, she explained to us about her unfortunate occurrence with her uncle. In one text, she found out he was having an affair with a girl her age! Pam shot the screen as evidence of course. When the uncle pleaded with her not to tell her aunt, she asked for something he could afford. Remember, children, love doesn't have a price. Cheating, on the other hand...
"And then My Aunt Cherie told that bastard she knew all about the cheating all along. To spite him, she went to Rio on her own and had sex with a young man!"
"Wow!" We cried. I piped up. "Was that the same time he accidentally texted you?"
"Yep! Well, because of that, I got what I needed anyway! My Aunt gave me her extra account in the bank right here. It was for the damage my uncle
and
my aunt has done."
"Well, if you want my opinion, I think revenge cheating is an awful idea!" Theresa told Pam. "They should have divorced!"
"Well, they didn't. In fact, their sex life got even stronger! As proof she had sex with the dude, she gave him the vid in her phone."
"Good Lord!"
"Pam, what did he say to that??" Yuki asked her. She shrugged. "I don't care what that bastard of my Uncle Luke had to say! He did it to himself! He cheated on her, so she cheated on him back! I must say, that guy was so hot!"
"You watched that vid!"
"Yeah, my aunt accidentally gave the vid to me." She blushed and grunted. "I really need to change my number! But yeah, I saw it. The guy was fine! Hair on his chest, muscles all over, goatee and a mustache, I am talking full-on masculinity!"
"You love...hairy bodies?" Rosa seethed her teeth when Pam made that description. Theresa nodded in approval. "Well, you need to have some hair on a person's body. It was popular in my day."
"Yeah, in
your
day," I commented. Theresa rolled her eyes as she turned her car at the parking lot. "Well, you have heard of manscaping, have you not?"
"Well yeah! John shaves his chest hair and it's shape like a triangle!"
"I can count every hair on my boyfriend's chest!" Yuki said with pride. Rosa asked her how many. Her answer made us speechless. "Two!"
After cashing Pam's check, Theresa took us to Home Depot. We got our supplies for our weekly project. Theresa went to the home improvement section to ask some advice. So, we had our stuff paid and waited for our driver when Pam discussed about the morning. The girl had a massive angina attack (exaggeration on her end) when she saw HIM! And Charles told us he hired him as a morning shift fry cook.
"Say what?" Rosa cried out. Yuki went to her calculator and analyzed the financials when I gawked in disbelief. "Wait, wait, wait, he hired
another
employee? How many of you guys does a diner afford?"
"Apparently, not enough." Pam sighed. "In fact, our tips alone could afford us trust funds for our grandkids!"
Yuki dropped her calculator, the drop echoed through the aisle. We stared at her. I was the only one who had the audacity to ask her to repeat. "Come again?"
"Okay, that is an exaggeration, but I believe by the end of the summer, our tips can help us pay for our college debts and be set for life!"
"You're rich already!" I commented. "Why bother needing a job?"
"My family came from a long line of hard workers." Pam answered honestly. Welp, looks like my stomach had a bruise from her verbal punch! "My grandfather worked for his earnings. My father earned his. Why shouldn't I earn mine?"
"Point well proven, amiga." Rosa, slapping the back of my head. "Working hard is part of everyone's dream! If you want to achieve anything, you need to work for it! And damn! I want to work my ass off today!"
Yuki picked up her calculator and put it back into her purse. "So I am! Let's start working on cabin 13!"
Theresa came over to the new inspired us with a doily of lumber. "Yee-haw! We are so getting things done today! What are you going to do?"
The other three wanted to start with sanding the floors. I, on the other hand, shouted what was more important. "We're making humane traps to catch skunks!"
The three sisters of my fell over, sandpapers flying out of their bags! Yeah, they have forgotten about our little infestation. When we headed back to Camp Hattawata, Pam told us more about the new employee. His name was Daniel Marzari, a genuine great cook. He was greatly known for his skills with assudo (That's Portuguese for "roast"). There was another bomb shell Pam informed us.
"I remembered him as my aunt's lover!"