“It was enlightening. When will dinner be ready? Are you making greens?”
Aunt Marie frowned. “Your mom claimed that dinner was ready over an hour ago,” she said, “and everybody was just waiting for me. But the funny thing is, I’m standing right here, and she’s still putting cheese on the macaroni.”
“The macaroni and cheese is done,” Mom announced. “I’m just adding Velveeta for extra flavor. It’ll take three minutes. But you don’t know much about extra flavor, do you, Merle? All that bland food you cook. Do you still season your meals with only salt and pepper?”
Everybody laughed except Ava, who apparently didn’t think it was very funny. She was wearing nothing noticeable—a long, black skirt; black turtleneck; and black-and-white Pumas. No makeup or earrings, and her hair was piled on to
