The good grandson

I'm sure I'm violating the agreement I signed for the rental car, but I decided to drive to Fort Smith to have dinner and play poker at Nana and Papa's. I stopped off for a sixer of my favorite beer in lieu of the weaker-than-Evian light beer my uncle always drinks. I offered to help out with dinner, and instead of mixing the salad dressing like I was expecting, I got something way cooler. A rite of passage, as it were. I...got to grill!

Papa was sitting in his little swivel chair in the garage, and he tossed me his apron. "Here, flip the steaks, boy." he told me. This apron has been around as long as I remember, and I don't think it's ever been washed. But I didn't care. It was just so cool to get to man the grill, even if it was under Papa's stern, watchful eye.

The steaks met everyone's approval. I just sat there, savoring my food with a smug look on my face. I looked over at Papa, eating his steak very slowly, in very small bites, and he looked over at me and gave me a proud little nod. I was on top of the world...at least until the poker game started.

The problem wasn't that I kept getting bad hands, it was that I kept getting great hands and someone always had a better hand. I even got beat with a full house, aces over kings...ACES OVER KINGS! My uncle looked over at me with his straight flush, took a swig of his light beer and laughed.

I went and sat in the living room afterwards and chatted with Papa for a while until he got weak and had to go to bed. All in all, it was a good night.

While the rest of the family finished up the poker game, I cleaned up the kitchen. Nana was shocked, as if she never had seen me clean up after myself before. I stepped outside for a smoke and to give Grace a call. She had a long day, and I caught her just before she went to bed. I cut the conversation short to let her get some sleep. We're gonna meet for lunch tomorrow. Yipee!

In the meantime, my battery's dying and I forgot my charger. Until tomorrow...