Page 76 of Lace 'em Up
We talked and laughed throughout the entire meal, and it wasn’t long before all my nerves had subsided, and I was feeling completely at home with Ronin and his beautiful home. After we finished eating, the kids and I helped Ronin clear the table and load the dishwasher.
As soon as we were done, Nathan asked, “Are we still gonna do a fire?”
“Only if you and your sister will help me get it started.”
“Yeah, I’ll help.”
“Then, let’s get to it.” Ronin got up and grabbed a few wire coat hangers from the hall closet and a lighter from the drawer. “Give us a second to get the fire started.”
“What can I do?”
“Ummm.” Ronin opened the back door. “You could get us a couple of drinks.”
“You got it.”
Ronin and the kids went outside, and together, they started tossing wood into the fire pit. Once he had the flames rolling, Ronin and Nathan gathered a few chairs and started placing them around the pit. I took that as my cue to start grabbing the drinks and the two large bags of marshmallows he’d left on the counter.
I carried them outside and sat down next to Ronin. He handed each of the kids one of the hangers he’d unwound and told them, “Here you go. Roast away, but don’t get too close to the fire.”
The flames illuminated their faces as they placed a marshmallow on the end of the skewer and extended it over the fire. I watched them for a few minutes, then grabbed myself a hanger, poked it through the marshmallow, and held it over the flame. “I can’t remember the last time I roasted marshmallows.”
“It’s been a while for me, too.”
“We did some at Dad’s last summer, but he had those gross marshmallows from the gas station.”
“They weren’t that bad,” Samantha argued.
“They melted right off the stick.”
“That’s because you burned them.” Samantha pointed to his marshmallow over the fire as she fussed, “Just like you’re doing now.”
“Oh, man.” He quickly pulled it from the fire and started blowing on it. It was completely black and crispy. “What do I do with it?”
“Eat it,” Ronin answered.
“No way. It’s gross.”
“You don’t know what you’re missing.” Ronin reached over and grabbed the marshmallow from the end of his stick, then tossed it in his mouth with a smile. “Burnt is the only way to go.”
“I wanna try a burnt one!”
Samantha took another marshmallow from the bag and stuck it right in the fire. Once it was engulfed in flames, she pulled it out and blew on it. Worried she might burn herself, Ronin warned, “Give it a minute to cool off first.”
She waited a second, then popped it in her mouth. She chewed for a second, and it wasn’t long before she winced and started shaking her head. “Nope. I don’t like it.”
“It’s an acquired taste.” Ronin chuckled. “You’ll appreciate it more when you get older.”
“Nah, I don’t think so.”
Samantha put another marshmallow on her skewer and placed it over the fire. She and Nathan ate a couple more marshmallows, but the excitement started to wear off. Noting the shift in mood, Ronin looked over to Nathan and asked, “Hey, man. What’s your high and low for the day?”
“My what?”
“Your high and low?”
“What’s that?”
“It’s something my dad used to do with my sister and me.” Ronin glanced over at me, then back to Samantha. “You tell your high or your good thing for the day and your low, which is something that was not so great.”
