The Cursed Potatoes

This is a continuation of the story, The Girl In The Orange Grove, a background on how I ended up in Italy.

The fire was out of control. In retrospect, frying potatoes and trying to watch a sitcom on TV at the same time was a bad idea. By the time she turned around, the kitchen was in flames. Nate was in the shower, and as she ran in screaming that there was a fire, he rushed past her. He ran in the kitchen, grabbed a towel and threw the pan out the door. She then grabbed a fire blanket her mom had bought her from QVC, and threw it on the stove. That did the trick, but it also threw the fire on her. Her legs still bare the scars today as a reminder not to watch Family Matters while frying potatoes.

It was a mess. They managed to get the fire out, but not before it destroyed the kitchen. Her dream, new, double wide trailer in the orange grove was now not so new.  She was so mad at herself that she banished herself to the orange grove. There she sat in the back of Pappy’s truck crying. She slept out there and was so angry that she had done this. How would they afford a new kitchen?  Nate was upset, but as usual, was looking for a way to fix it.

The next day, a man from an insurance company came to look at the damage. And as Nate talked to him, he wondered how he had got that job. Did it pay well?  What school did you need? He decided maybe, that perhaps it was time to leave his dad’s work and make something out of himself. He went to take an insurance adjuster test after reading a book, and passed.  Now, maybe the fire happened for a reason. Or, just maybe, the girl in the ornage grove needed to swear off fried potatoes.

To be continued

-Rachael