ARROW - 217. Chapter 217

Arriving at the Home, Pierre headed for the game room. He was making friends thanks to the fishing and I noticed a few Italian words. Today was allowance day, so besides the fresh fish dinner, the children would bring their banks to the dining room after we had eaten.

“Colin, did you bring a bank for Silas?” A nod was his answer.

Sitting down for dinner, I noticed my place changed. My table was extended allowing the two boys who sat next to me to appear closer to the table which permitted me to feed them without turning. Sitting with a young boy in his place in front of me, the two girls sitting on my legs, and the two boys were now sitting slightly ahead of me. I looked at Tommy and he mouthed the name Charley. It was more comfortable this way, I didn’t have to turn to feed the two boys who sat beside me. Across from me was Charles and Pierre. They were flanked by the boys who carried the peanuts in from the van. I was glad, Pierre was making friends and Charles had gone fishing enough times to have his fishing buddies sitting next to him.

I don’t know how the cooks prepare the fish except to know they were baked. Plates of baked fish, with a baked potato and a salad headed to the head table. Next were plates for the younger children and the last plate was my plate. The aroma coming from my plate resulted in the girls bending forward to smell our dinner even more.

I took a small fork and with a piece of fish on it, I offered it to Pierre. “I think this was the fish you caught.” There was no way I would know that, but it worked. He took the food from my fork, chewing, he smiled.

“Good right?” He smiled now I started something. I had to offer a piece e of my fish to the three boys and the two girls. They all agreed it was the best. They thanked Pierre for catching the fish.

I didn’t know at the time I started something. It seemed from that moment on my small dinner partners needed to have a taste of our food offered by me from my fork.

Anytime I would look at Colin he would laugh. He was eating with his golfers and fishermen. In all fairness, I had a few of the fishermen at my table however they seemed to speak in Italian.

The food was good, the company was good. As long as I had my dinner partners I was okay. By their smiles, they were okay as well.

Dessert was baked apples with ice cream.

I hadn’t noticed until a flash went off in front of me. Tommy had the photographer there taking pictures of the food. I wondered if those two ladies who visited us would be at that meeting.

Dinner over, and the tables were cleared, except for my coffee cup. Colin came over and dropped a bag of coins in front of me. Within seconds, the kids were gone, except Silas. He didn’t have a bank. I looked at Colin, and he left. As the kids came in with their banks and sat down at the table, the last one in was Colin with two banks. I knew who they were for.

He gave a bank to Silas and you could hear a coin in it.

Now they lined up, they approached me, I asked them if they helped the cooks or housekeepers and are they doing well in school. Then I would drop a quarter into their bank.

That might seem very little for an allowance except I knew when their banks were opened, there was more than thirteen dollars in them. This is their Christmas money, They can buy gifts for their friends. Colin and I always have a gift for them. They write letters to Santa, we read them and Santa tries to fulfill their wishes. What really hurts, when they ask for the impossible, to be adopted into a nice loving home. I believe that is why Colin and I like to be called Pop and Dad.

Silas was surprised when I dropped a quarter into his bank. Colin gave me a black marking pen and I wrote his name on it. Les came over, “See I told you would get an allowance as well.” I saw tears, so I hugged him. He pulled back and smiled. Now all of the kids wanted a hug. So I hugged them and kissed the girls on the cheeks. I got one back.

Charley had a new cartoon for them and soon you would see them come back without their banks and heading toward the game room.

Pierre gave me his bank to hold as he headed to the game room with the peanut boys.

I had some loose change, mostly nickels, dimes, and pennies. I put that change into his bank.

I sat with the staff and commented on the fish. The cooks wanted to know when the fishing stopped. They said they had enough frozen fish to offer a special fish dinner for several weeks. Colin reminded them that they were going to have paella on Monday and the chefs from the club would be over to prepare it. He told them it would be a teaching experience. I knew he was a little upset that they forgot how to make polenta after Nonna taught them. I thought if they don’t pay attention to James showing them how to make paella they may never get any shrimp or lobster.

Arriving home, the boys said they were going to go to bed. I gave Pierre his bank, and taking it, it rattled. He looked at me, I told him it was a few pennies I had in my pocket. He wanted to know what a penny was. I looked at Charles, “I’ll explain it, Dad.”

With the kids in their sleeping bags in the living room, Angela, Geno, Colin and I headed to the kitchen. It didn’t take long for the coffee.

“Colin, why did you tell the cooks that making paella would be a teaching lesson?”

“I was angry at them. Nonna taught them how to make polenta, How to make noodles, and how to make chicken soup. You have eaten there more times than me. Have you tasted Nonna’s soup? Angela went and made polenta for the kids. They liked it, but I’ll bet unless Angela and Elsie go there again, the kids won’t get it again. I know they aren’t professionals but that isn’t an excuse. I think we should retire some of those cooks and hire some cooks who want to learn.”

Listening to Colin I realized he truly was upset. “I think we should discuss this with Tommy. What do you think?”

“Those are the same cooks we had in the old place, What they did there, they do here.”

“No, they aren’t. Those two cooks provided those children with the best food available. Child Services allowed so much money for food. When we became involved, the food improved. Those two cooks went to the Home, three new cooks were hired as well as the cleaning ladies. Now most of the cooking is done by the new cooks. Mary and Clara have semi-retired.”

“Well, something needs to be done. I’ll bet the crepe machines we bought can’t be located. I think I’m going to stop there for breakfast and lunch on occasion. I’ll find out what’s going on.”

“What has made you so concerned?”

“The boys who go golfing with me on Sunday ask if they could have something to eat at the clubhouse. When I asked if they had breakfast at the Home, they told me it was a cartoon of dry cereal with a glass of milk and a small glass of orange juice. It isn’t the first time they told me this.”

“Let's post a menu. We will sit down with the cooks and come up with a menu for a week. It will have to be monitored on a spot-check basis.”

“We need to do that while Angela is here. Angela, could you teach those cooks some of your specialties?”

“We need to get Tommy on board.”

“Coffee is ready.”

The rest of the evening, we chatted about fishing, golfing, the club, and how good the fish was tonight.

I did want to talk to Pat about their meeting this coming Tuesday.

“Pat, Tommy said you would be driving to Albany Monday night. Wouldn’t it be better to drive Tuesday morning and return on Wednesday? That way you would have a night's rest before driving to Albany.”

“How far is it?”

“Driving it’s a little over 2 hours. You could leave at 6 and be there by 8:30. What time is your meeting?”

“I think Tommy said at 10, the lunch at 12, and the meeting to resume at 1;30.”

“I’ll talk to Tommy in the morning. You could stay over Tuesday night and drive back on Wednesday.”

We agreed that made sense. And with that conclusion, we headed to bed.