Hackneys — Chapter 18 (part five)

Lime Chicken, Salad, and Lemon Cake with Lemon Glaze

“Good,” Saoirse said, with a nod and a smile. “This sounds awful. Does Sue have to be involved?”

“I’m not sure,” Niti said. “I left a message for Samantha. She usually gets back to us or comes in.”

Saoirse nodded.

“I hate the fact that this family can keep bullying Sue,” Saoirse said.

“We can only mitigate it so much,” Niti said.

Saoirse nodded.

“Did you make cake?” Sue asked.

“It’s cooling,” Niti said. “Are your friends coming over?”

“Both of ours are coming over,” Guillermo said.

“Great,” Niti said. “Should we open the restaurant early or host them here in the backyard?”

“It’s a lovely evening. The restaurant doesn’t open for more than four hours,” Saoirse said. “Why don’t we stay out here?”

Sue and Guillermo nodded.

“I’ll start the grill,” Niti said.

“I can do it,” Guillermo said. “Sue can get the meat out.”

Sue nodded.

Everyone was in motion. Saoirse went to change out of her dress uniform. Sue took out the marinated chicken from the refrigerator while Niti took out an extra few packets of chicken breasts from the freezer and stuck them in the microwave to defrost.

“Remember Ida’s a veg,” Sue said.

“Good point,” Niti said, taking a brick of tofu from the freezer.

He stuck the tofu in a bowl of hot water and then made a quick marinade of lime, lime zest, salt, soy sauce, and garlic. When the chicken was defrosted, he poured half of the marinade over it. When the tofu was soft, he added the rest of the marinade.

He waved Sue away from chopping vegetables and put together a big salad. He grabbed two batards of bread from the freezer and put them into the warm toaster oven.

“Dad?” Sue asked. “Everyone is here.”

“We’re ready,” Niti said, carrying the salad out to the table.

To his joy, the backyard was full of teenagers and a few adults. A couple of the children’sparents came to meet Niti. Kelly, who lived in the apartment in the house, was there with Samantha and her children.

Guillermo had the grills ready to cook. Niti brought the meat out and put the food onto the grills and closed the covers.

Niti looked up to survey the party. His eye was immediately drawn to Saoirse, who was standing next to the picnic table in jeans and a long sleeved T-shirt. Sue was standing next to her friend Noelle, and the rest of her group surrounded them. Guillermo was hanging out with two boys about his age. They were goofing around with a soccer ball. The parents were talking and laughing with Granny, who’d appeared at some point, Kelly, and Samantha.

It was just a spring evening in the backyard, and it was perfect.

“Hey,” their contractor said.

“Jake!” Niti said.

“Do you need a hand?” Jacob Marlowe asked. “Noelle’s mom and dad are still at work, so I brought her and a couple of the other girls.”

“It’s always great to see you,” Niti said.

You’ve been reading Hackneys. This serial fiction (the first 14 chapters) was one of the top 10 serials at Kindle Vella. Now that Kindle Vella has closed, we thought we’d continue the serial here at Medium — Monday, Wednesday, and Friday — two chapters a month. Enjoy!