ADVENTURES AT THE BLAKE FAMILY ESTATE PART THREE: DINNER

After a while, Neil and I went down to dinner. But this wasn't just any evening meal. It was a six course affair with plenty of wars stories and perfect manners. I sat down next to Neil at the long dining table, and we waited patiently for the other family members to arrive.

Raymond came with Butterfly. I knew that it had to be him because the little boy looked like a younger Neil. It was if the photograph of Neil's younger self had lost weight. (Remember, Neil was pudgy back in his youth.) Ray clung tightly to Butterfly's hand and looked at me with innocent, sapphire eyes and asked sweetly, "Who's this?"

"My friend Ethan from school." Neil replied. "Butterfly knows him too."

Ray smiled charmingly at me, (I had a sinking feeling that he would turn into someone like Adam) and asked me why I looked so much like a girl.

"So you think so too, young one?" Geoffrey stepped into the room. "Astute eyes like yours have not yet gone blind to the ways of the world."

"Speaking of sharp eyes," Ishtar's voice came from beneath the table. "Did you know that he shaves his legs?"

"I swim." I lied quickly.

"Great. We have a pool. You can show us your stuff."

"I wish I could, but I'm allergic to chlorine." I lied again.

"Poor child. It be taken from what you hold so dear...It must be akin to torture."

"It's not that bad." I said. "Ishtar, what are you doing under the table?"

"Wondering if I can get you to remember me by aromatic incense while you eat."

"How many times do I have to tell you, I'm not Tammuz."

"Tammuz, that reminds me." And old man said, entering the room and taking a seat at the head of the table. I guessed that he was Grandpa. "I remember, when I was in the war, we were fighting a strange guerrilla force that kept hiding in the trees. We couldn't shoot them down because the branches were too think. Thick enough to make a log cabin, I think, and it was dangerous terrain. I lost a lot of men there." He sighed heavily. "That damn war took a lot of innocent live, it did."

"What does that have to do with Tammuz?" Ishtar asked, then turned to me and added, "You should pay close attention. You might remember something."

"Well, in the war, I fought along side a Turkish boy--at least I think he was Turkish--and he was nicknamed Tammuz because he fell in love with a whore." Neither he nor Ishtar seemed to catch the insult.

Neil's father arrived, and dinner was served.

"I don't like this soup." Raymond said. "It tastes like quail eggs."

"That's because it does have quail eggs." Neil's father explained. "Its called 'Buddha Jumps over the Wall' and is quite delicious. Did you know it takes several days to prepare? It would be doing the cook an injustice if you didn't eat it."

Raymond looked at the bowl dubiously. "Are you sure it takes so long to make it?"

"Quite sure."

Ray grimaced, but sipped the soup like a good child. I couldn't help but mentally "aaaawwweeee"at how cute and respectful it was.

Neil's grandfather told another story, about a time in "the war" when his unit was forced to eat duck eggs for a month. I still wasn't sure which war it was, and when I asked Neil later, he just shrugged. I guess no one knew.

During the Wagyu steak, there was another war story about death by chipmunks and a history lesson on Genghis Khan. Then for desert (by this time I was absolutely stuffed) we ate expensive tasting chocolate truffles. I realized that in this meal alone, I had probably consumed such pricey foods that all the other foods I have ever eaten in my entire life would not equal it. I made a mental note never to give Neil something cheep from a grocery store. It might not sit well in his stomach with the caviar.