The Chicken Sisters - K.J. Dell'Antonia Page 0,129
at Nancy, and gave her head a little shake before she went on. “And, I guess, an IOU.”
“Which we’re going to make good,” said Nancy, and Amanda rushed in.
“We have to figure out how, Mom, but we know she died before she could pay it back. Or we think she did. And we know—” Amanda stopped. She didn’t want to say it in front of the cameras, or really at all, but they knew at least some of the Pogociellos would have known, or could have guessed. There was good reason to be angry, but no one left to be angry with, or at least that was what Amanda hoped. She watched as her mother read the note again, and then held it, staring down as though if she looked for long enough, the scrap of paper would offer even more answers. But this one, her mother had to decide for herself. After a long, tense silence, Barbara spoke.
“It wasn’t Frannie,” she pronounced. “That’s what matters. It wasn’t Frannie, and it wasn’t you, either.” She handed the paper to Mae, walked over to Nancy, and stuck out her hand. When Nancy took it, Barbara pulled the other woman into an embrace. Amanda’s eyes met Barbara’s over Nancy’s shoulder, and although no words were exchanged, Amanda felt a lightening of a load she had been carrying for so long that she was barely aware of it anymore.
When her mother and mother-in-law broke apart, they were both laughing, and Amanda nearly clapped. Nancy might not have told them about the loan right away, but Amanda knew she would have, even if Nancy had doubted herself. It was time for her mother to see who Nancy really was and why Amanda loved her—and maybe why there was room for both Barbara and Nancy in Amanda’s life.
“I still don’t understand,” said Andy. “Why did the chicken change? Because when I first tasted it, it wasn’t the same as Mimi’s. Not at all.”
“I didn’t know we had the recipe,” Nancy said. “When Frank died, I didn’t even know a recipe existed. Frank Junior probably knew, but we never expected—” She trailed off, shaking her head. “Obviously no one thought they’d both die at the same time. But it turned out my Frank showed Gus, and Gus didn’t know I didn’t have it.” Noticing the camera on her, she turned away and wiped the tears off her face before she went on.
“After I ran out of the mixture Frank had made, I started winging it. I knew it was never right, but what else could I do? When Gus realized I wasn’t using the recipe just this week—it’s a long story—he showed me, and we made it on Saturday morning, and I was so happy it was the right chicken again, and that’s what we brought to Food Wars. I never dreamed it would cause such a commotion.”
Sabrina stepped in front of the camera. “Well, it certainly did,” she declared. “The mystery of the recipe may be solved, but the Food War still remains.” She smiled and subtly pulled at Amanda’s hand so that she had Amanda on one side and Mae on the other. “Our chefs report that there’s much more to great fried chicken than just what spices go in the coating, and they’re eager to tell you what they think, and who will ultimately win one hundred thousand dollars and the right to declare themselves the Fried Chicken Food War Champion. Will it be Frannie’s, where the drinks are flowing and the regulars are happily biting into the old familiar chicken”—she gestured to Amanda—“or will it be Mimi’s, where the spokespuppies have a new home and all’s right in the world?” She stood, smiling, then dropped her shoulders and her smile.
“Cut. Okay, people, I’m glad you’ve got a happy ending to the Amanda story, but we’ve still got filming to do. We’ve decided to go back to neutral ground for the final scenes, so tomorrow morning, eight A.M., at the 1908 Standard for the big reveal.” She patted Mae and Amanda on their shoulders, then called to her crew. “Pack it up, guys.”
Mae looked at Sabrina in horror, then pointed to the mess around them on the lawn. “You’re not going to help get all the rest of this out of here? Or film Mom in her new space?”
“Nope,” said Sabrina over her shoulder as she walked toward the parking lot. “Changed my mind. We’ve got everything we need.”