Chapter 36: Racist.
Nathy Peluso's "Puro Veneno" plays through the stereo in the house as I flip pancakes. I am wearing Zachary's Jersey as I dance around the kitchen with a spatula in my hand. Anna is in her crib beside the island. I sway my body with the music as I walk back to the stove and turn it off. I place the pancake on top of the stack of pancakes in the tray. I separate the pancakes into two plates and I add the fruit compote that I made from strawberries, raspberries and blackberry, by the side.
Zachary walks into the kitchen with a white towel around his neck. He picks up Anna before he kisses me.
"Good morning baby." He says and I blush.
"Morning." I tell him as I set the plates on the island. "Breakfast is served, come eat." I say as I sit on the stool beside the island. Zachary sits beside me and he starts eating. I stare at him as he chews the food, waiting for his reaction. He lets out a moan and I smile.
"Babe, this is so good." He tells me.
"Thank you". I say before I start eating my food.
"What time are we picking up your grandmother?" He asks me.
My grandmother is coming to New York. Well, the two of them are. My father's mother, my Abuelita is staying with me. And my grandmother on my mother's side, I call her my Sobo, is staying with my parents. The two of them can't bear to live in the same house, we don't even want that drama. Thanksgiving is tomorrow and Zachary's parents are coming into town today. We're all having dinner at my house. It's going to be a pretty eventful day tomorrow and I cannot wait.
"She gets in at eight in the evening. So, we'll be at the airport at like seven thirty." I tell him, cutting into my pancake.
"I would like us to take her out to dinner when we pick her up." Zachary tells me.
"That'll be nice. We'll go to the Mexican restaurant in Soho." I tell him.
"Soho? That's like miles away from the airport." He says, staring at me.
"My Abuelita doesn't eat American food. If need be, she prefers traveling with everything she's going to cook and eat. But since New York has a lot of Hispanic people, I told her not to bother. We can always go out to eat." I tell him.
"That's fine. We'll do what will make her more comfortable." Zachary says, eating the last piece of pancake on his plate.
"Don't your grandparents live here in New York?" I ask Zachary and his facial expression changes.
"Yeah, they do. But it's just my mother's parents though. My father's parents are dead." He tells me.
"Oh, I never knew that. We can still invite your mother's parents to dinner." I tell him.
"I don't know about that, Vee." He says, placing Anna on the island as he holds her head up.
"It'll be nice." I say, touching his arm.
"They're a lot to handle. Well, my grandmother is." He tells me and I nod.
"So are my grandparents, but they're still family. And I wouldn't want them to spend Thanksgiving alone." I tell him, pouting.
"Fine." He says giving in. "But if anything goes wrong just know I told you so." He adds.
"Nothing is going to go wrong." I assure him.
***
It took me all night to make dumplings. Making those dumplings was a chore. Right now, I'm making braised duck with rice and carne asada. My grandmother made just one dish and that was butternut squash enchiladas with red chile sauce and chorizo bread stuffing. My mother told me that she would bring the turkey and that her mum was making sushi and tempura.
Everyone is set to arrive at 3pm, it's already 2:30pm. So, right now I'm just setting the table. The doorbell rings and I ask Zachary to get it. He comes into the dinning area holding a box in his hand.
That's probably the cake I ordered.
"You can place that here." I tell him, pointing to the middle of the table.
"Nieta, you should probably get changed before they get here. I'll bring the remaining things to the table." My abuelita tells me.
"Thanks, Abuela." I say, hugging her.
I head to my bedroom and I start undressing. As I place my trousers on the bed, I see Zachary through the mirror. He's leaning on the door frame as he stares at me.
"What?" I ask him, turning around.
"I've never seen anyone look this sexy after having a baby." He says, wetting his bottom lip.
"Why do always make me blush?" I ask him as I grab my dress from the bed. I step into it and Zachary helps me zip it up.
"Because-" He says, stopping to kiss my neck. "You're sexy and I always want to make you smile." He tells me, wrapping his arms around my waist.
He stares at me as he looks into the mirror and I look away.
"You're beautiful." He says as he kisses my cheek.
"And I can't wait to marry you." He says and I turn around and kiss him. He picks me up and guides me to the bed. He slips his hand under my dress and I arch my back.
"Valarie, they're here." I hear my Abeulita say and I freeze.
Shit.
Zachary gets off me and I stand up and adjust my dress. I grab a hairbrush from the dresser and I comb my hair.
"I'll go greet them and tell them you'll be right out." Zachary says, touching the small of my back before he leaves the room.
God, I hope this night is drama-free.
***
"This food is amazing, Vee." My mother compliments.
"Absolutely divine." My dad says.
"I really tried my very best to make it edible at least." I tell them, being modest.
"This is a meal fit for royalty." My Sobo says and I smile at her. Sobo means grandmother in Japanese, in case you were wondering.
"I think the carne asada is overcooked." Zachary's grandmother, Karen comments.
"Of course, it'll be too well done for you. You white people are used to eating things raw." My Abuelita quips and I snicker in my seat.
"Of course, you of all people will find that funny, you made the disaster." Karen says and Marcy gasps in her seat.
"Mom." She says, staring at her mother.
"What? These kind of people always overseason everything." Karen says and I try my best to stay calm.
These kind of people?
"I think the food is great." Her husband, Carl says beside her.
"Of course you would, Carl. You lost your taste buds in the war. You haven't tasted anything for years." Karen says, waving him off.
"The food is great." Carl repeats as he continues eating.
"Ay dios mÃo, what is your problem woman. Just enjoy the meal and shut up." My Abuelita says yelling at Karen.
"You can't tell me what to do. Your people are always told what to do, not the other way round." Karen says and I open my mouth to speak, but Zachary kicks my from leg under the table.
"Did you just kick me?" I ask him and he tries to hold my hand, but I don't let him.
"You're giving me a headache, please eat your food." My Sobo tells Karen.
"Don't talk to me like that, Chink." Karen says and my mother gasps.
"That's enough, Karen." Carl says, yelling at his wife.
Beside me, I hear my mother and grandmother conversing in Japanese. My father is trying to calm his mother down, but it's all to no avail.
"We, people of color, have fought too hard to be treated this way. I am leaving." My Abeulita says before she stands up.
"Mom, there's no need for that." My dad says trying to get his mother to sit down.
"You are racist." My Abuelita yells in Karen's face.
Karen gasps in surprise before she starts to cry.
Oh, not the crocodile tears.
"You can't be serious." I say as I stare at Karen.
"Carl, they're calling me racist." Karen says, staring at her husband. Carl doesn't answer her, he just keeps eating.
"Mom, just calm down." Marcy says, holding her mother.
"You guys are attacking me and calling me racist. I don't deserve this. I haven't seen my grandson in years and you embarrass me in front of him like this." Karen says, crying.
"That's because you used a racist slur like thirty seconds ago." I say, yelling at her. I don't mean to be disrespectful, but this woman needs a rude awakening.
"If you don't apologize to my grandmother, you will have to leave." I tell her.
"I will do no such thing." Karen says, wiping her eyes.
"Then you'll have to leave." I tell her.
"I'm not going anywhere until my grandson says so." Karen says and I stare at Zachary.
"I hate to break it to you, Grandma, but I'm with Valarie on this one. You're going to have to apologize or leave. There's no room for racism in my house." Zachary tells her.
"Fine. I'm sorry." She tells my grandmother. That apology doesn't seem too genuine, but I'll let it slide.
My Sobo nods her head before she continues eating.
I hear Anna crying in the baby monitor beside me and I stand up and go to her room. She's crying up a storm in here. I pick her up and she stops crying. I carry her and walk back to the dining room.
"There she is." My Sobo says and I smile.
"I think the noise woke her up." I say before I sit down.
"In lighter news, Valarie and I have an announcement to make." Zachary says and everyone at the table stares at us.
Our cover with Vogue drops tomorrow, so we wanted to tell them about our engagement before they see it in the media. I already told my Abuelita when she got here, so she's the only one that knows.
"Valarie and I are getting married." Zachary tells them as I bounce Anna in my arms.
"That's great news." Marcy says as she smiles at me.
"I'm proud of you, son. You finally did something right." Felix says and I chuckle.
"So, when is the wedding?" My mother asks and I stare at Zachary.
"We haven't started planning it yet, but we know we want a spring wedding." I tell her.
"Very well then, we can start planning the wedding next month." Marcy says and I let out a sigh before I smile at her.
Why do I have a bad feeling about this?