Chapter 5
Larry walked into the kitchen, the scuffed Keds on his feet slapping the plain floorboards. A wonderful aroma of chicken and dumplings, soup beans, and cornbread filled his nostrils.
He looked down at himself and saw the little boy he’d once been, and smiled.
Must be a vistin’ night.
He ran to the table and hopped up into one of the worn chairs. His elbows went on the freshly-scrubbed table, his chin went on his hands, and he waited.
Granny Pearlie, wearing the blue calico dress and sunbonnet he always saw her in, puttered at the ancient wood-burning cookstove, stirring this, flipping that, adding a smidge of extra to the other.
“I hope you ain’t expectin’ me to steer ye on this one, Lar-Bear,” she said, her back still to him. She stirred the beans, took a taste from the lo
