Spots: Favorites

A Web Serial by M.C.A. Hogarth

55. 'Cause Moms Are Always Planning Ahead.	57. Boss.

56. Favorites

The Warren. Team Kitty is patrolling, mostly without incident.

Hairball. "Favorite home-cooking, go."

Whiskers. "Damn, I can only pick one thing?"

Fang. "Stick with the pattern."

Whiskers. "Mph. Shrimp. Deep-fried."

Fang. "Your mom deep-fried ****?"

Whiskers. "Hell yeah."

Fang. "****, my mom wouldn't touch anything fried with a ten-foot pole."

Scythe. "So what did she make you?"

Fang. "Toast. Burnt."

Claws. "****, no wonder you grew up mean."

Everyone laughs, including Fang.

Hairball. "Mine's potato pancakes with applesauce."

Claws. "Never had that but it sounds deadly."

Hairball. "It's like the best kind of white **** you're not supposed to eat in vegetables combined with the best kind of white **** you're not supposed to eat in grains, covered in sugar. Or sour cream. It's ****ing awesome. What about you?"

Claws. "I'm a breakfast man. Hash browns, eggs and ham steak all the way. Scythe? Spots?"

Scythe. "Macaroni and cheese."

Whiskers. "You're ****ing us."

Scythe. "Nope. My grandmother's the only Iraqi in the family. Rest of us are crackers. She makes it with bacon."

Hairball. "****, everything's better with bacon. Macaroni and bacon!"

Fang. "Hey, aren't Muslims supposed to not eat pigs?"

Scythe. "I didn't say she ate it. Just that she made it, for the rest of us."

Whiskers. "That's love, right there."

Scythe. "Yep. Spots?"

Whiskers. "Heh, you don't count, right? You're a mom."

Scythe. "That just means she gets two answers, what she likes and what she cooks for her kids."

Spots. "French toast. And guava pastries."

Hairball. "What's a guava?"

Spots laughs. "It's a tropical fruit and it's delicious. All right, my turn. Awesome teachers you had growing up, go."

"Good one!"

Several hours later Team Kitty finishes their shift, gets back to the Armory and strips down, still talking. They disperse to their showers. Spots watches Fang enter before her, then follows. Once inside under the water:

"Hey, Fang?"

"Yeah?"

"Did your mom make you anything you liked? You didn't really get a chance to answer."

Fang pauses in scrubbing her head, then resumes. "She didn't like to cook."

Spots nods. "Ah."

After a moment: "Dad made most of our meals. He was much better at it anyway. Kind of fancy. Other people had peanut butter sandwiches at school and I'd have... chicken and almond with mango avocado salsa."

Spots. "Wow!" And then rueful. "I can't imagine my kids eating that."

Fang. "You got used to it." She sluices off and reaches for a towel. As she's leaving: "But Mom used to let me drink her coffee. Sometimes."

Spots. "Really? How'd she take it?"

Fang. "Really bitter. And sweet. And dark. I'd sit on her lap and it was like the strongest candy you ever had. My eyes used to water."

Spots says, quiet, "I bet that's one of her favorite memories too."

Fang glances at her, then looks away quickly and leaves.

55. 'Cause Moms Are Always Planning Ahead.	57. Boss.