See Me, Hear Me, Know Me

Together Again

Back home, Dad and Uncle Alex have every burner going. Uncle Alex is working the kitchen with his earbuds in and a black bandana on his head. He used to be head chef at Cook’s Kitchen, the family restaurant Gran and Grandad ran in Anacostia for over forty years before handing him the business. He kept it open through the pandemic as long as he could, but like so many small businesses, it didn’t survive, and a few months ago he started a food truck called Cruisin’ Cook instead.

Mom sets the table. When Auntie Bling reaches for a lid, Uncle Alex swats her hand away and puts Makena and Amari to work washing up.

Uncle Alex recruits the girls to help make Grandad’s chicken wings, a Cook’s Kitchen specialty so beloved the family swore never to change the recipe. Measuring out garlic, lemon zest, red pepper, and white pepper, the kitchen bursts into a singsong chant about the wings sizzling in the pot. Amari adds dance moves while they chant. Auntie Bling clumsily tries to copy her until Amari doubles over laughing.

The kitchen lights flash on and off; nobody heard the doorbell. But Gran and Grandad have arrived. The whole family piles into one giant hug, the Cook Crew together in person for the first time in over a year.

Gran and Grandad moved to North Carolina just before the pandemic. Gran and Grandad have been back to visit D.C. several times, but this is the first time Auntie Bling has visited from California in over a year. They’d done weekly video calls, but it wasn’t the same as them all being together.

Gran wraps an arm around each girl and asks about the outfits they post online. Makena tells her all about it, then admires the embroidery on Gran’s jacket. Gran says she did it herself and offers to teach Makena, if she’d like.

Grandad interrupts, saying that it’s time to see what’s cooking! They find that Uncle Alex has been preparing seafood and rice from the old restaurant menu. Now it’s one of the bestsellers on the food truck.

After dinner, Makena confesses to Gran, Mom, Auntie Bling, and Amari that she doesn’t know what to wear for the first day. Mom suggests that she consider how she wants others to see her. Makena says she wants everyone to know she’s happy to be back at school. Auntie Bling adds that clothes make a statement about how someone wants to be seen, just like the dashiki Mom made. Makena has never thought of getting dressed that way before.

She wishes that Auntie Bling and Gran could stay longer to see her first day of school outfit, but Auntie Bling is flying home tomorrow and Gran and Grandad are leaving on their first cruise. So, she’ll have to make sure they check out her fashion statement on Tuesday.