As we were loading the car, we were also given large containers to store the food in. We could drop off until 10 p.m. It took seven trips to get everything up to the apartment. We lay sprawled on the floor… this was enough cardio for the week!
"I… pant. Hate, pant, stairs." Robby announced.
"Stairs suck." I agreed glancing at everything we'd brought up… pretty sure I underestimated what I signed up for…
The cooking process… was a hot mess. We washed one portion of food, then started cooking the ground turkey. Robby was sitting on the floor chopping carrots, broccoli, and cauliflower while beans soaked.
"Bruh… what was your plan if I couldn't help?" Robby asked stretching his back. He'd been hunched over the chopping block for a solid twenty minutes already.
I glanced over my shoulder, "I'd figure something out. Maybe a taxi or uber." I shrugged.
"Yeash, okay, going to start blending." Robby sighed looking at the 80 ounce blender.
"Put the carrots in first, also don't blend them to mush, just small chunks." I reminded.
"Yeah yeah, I watched your videos too." Robby said moving everything to the closest wall socket.
The first batch went fairly well. After three hours of simmering on the stove to let the excess liquid evaporate we let the food cool for an hour.
Robby stuck his hand into the food, "Well, it didn't burn. Think we can get it into containers so we can start the next batch. I already cut the vegetables." Robby added pointing to the vegetable mountains. I nodded as we portioned out the food.
"Shoot… we won't have enough containers." I realized as we'd used more than half the containers for the first batch.
"Let's get the ground turkey cooked, then you can go grab more containers, maybe even drop off the first portion." Robby recommended looking around the disaster zone. Even with our bits of clean up, there were bits of food everywhere.
"Yeah, sounds like a plan."
Robby was getting ready to start blending again as I grabbed his keys. "What me to grab anything on my way back?" I asked.
"Coffee would save my soul." Robby wailed dramatically over the blender. He'd helped with the first trip to get the dog food in the car.
"TEXT ME YOUR ORDER!" I yelled over the blender as I carried the bag of dog food out. Yeash, three containers was freaking heavy!
I was kind of glad for the moment of peace. Robby had been talking the whole time. Calling BS when I told him about the lake party, the wolves, how big a guy Larry was. With his constant disbelief, rolling his eyes, and demanding pictures as proof it was killing my mood. Not to mention the solid hour long lecture about how I put myself in the position of nearly getting fired. Thanks Robby, for always being on my side. My sarcasm had not been missed. At least listening to him talk for the last hour had lightened the mood considerably.
I took a deep breath before heading back up to the apartment. I pushed my way into the apartment juggling our coffees, requested sandwich, and the containers.
"Did you survive?" I asked half jokingly smelling smoke. Robby's face said it all. I discretely took a deep breath. "What happened?" I asked trying to not jump down his throat. I'd been gone less than forty minutes…
"So… what happened was… I meant well!" Robby said.
I closed my eyes, shit. Things must be worse than I thought. "Just tell me now, do I need to go buy replacement ingredients?" I asked shoulders slumping. Fuck that was a lot of food… hopefully something was salvageable.
"No! No! The turkey stuck to the pan a little, but its fine! I uh, taste tested, shouldn't even notice!" Robby explained in a rush.
I glanced around, "Then… why all the smoke?" I asked seeing all the windows open. Fan also blowing to draw out the smoke.
"I… your towel… I was, uh, it made sense in my head…" Robby explained.
"I walked over, my towel, that had been in the washer, was now scorched in two spots. Yellow singes, in several areas. I picked it up to realize it was still damp. "What happened?" I asked in disbelief… it was the towel had left me…
"I… was using the towel to get a better grip on the pot, so I could stir. Then, it just caught fire! I dropped it, then uh… I threw it in the sink… I'm sorry Max. I didn't mean to… I was just trying to…" Robby's apologetic demeanor was just so… old.
"Why did the turkey get stuck to the pot?" I asked trying to force down my frustration. Not once had the turkey gotten stuck, even after being left alone for twenty minutes.
"I uh… I raised the temperature… I thought it would simmer faster…" Robby explained.
I closed my eyes, then rested my head against the fridge. So, because he raised the temperature, the food cooked to the bottom of the pan because he didn't stir it fast enough. Then he needed a better grip to scrape at the bottom of the giant pot, so he used a semi damp towel. The towel was too long, so it caught fire… he meant well. He's only here helping out because I didn't have a car. Inhale, hold, exhale. Robby meant well. Robby meant well. Robby MEANT well.
It's just a towel… I didn't even pay for it.
"Max… I'm sorry…" Robby whispered.
"It's fine. Here your sandwich and coffee." I said. I just needed a moment. "I'm going to hang my laundry real quick, then we can switch off." I offered patting him on the back.
"Oh! I hung them for you! That's uh, how I found the towel." Robby said sheepishly.
I stilled, no… please no… I half ran to my bedroom… where water was dripping down the wall because all of my pants were on the line closest to the wall. Fuck! Fuck!!!! I started yanking my pants off the line. Shit! I let them fall in a heap on the floor. I looked around… grabbing the sheet off my bed I started drying the wall.
"Oh… uh… sorry…" Robby said standing in the door wall. "I was… just… trying to help."
I sighed, "I know… you meant well." Robby always meant well. "Please… just watch the food." I added keeping my voice calm.
"I can help wipe the walls down, or you can show-"
"ROBBY! PLEASE!" I bellowed, I took a deep breath as I closed my eyes, "Please. Just watch the food." I didn't want to see the hurt in Robby's eyes. It was always like this. For God's sake, couldn't he just give me a moment? Let me just fix it? Fuck, I'd already showed him the binder with all the tips and tricks. He'd watched the same dog food videos. We had the same access to the same information. But did any of that matter? Nope! Because. He. Fucking. Meant. Well.