saw his face was grim. “When did this happen? Today?”
“It was this way when I got home last night,” Rason explained. “I called the cops. They came out, made a report, and got fingerprints. They suspect, as do I, that it was Robin.”
I looked over at the spray paint on the wall where his television used to be. In bold, red letters, it said CHEATER and underneath that in the same script was ASSHOLE. There was paint on the carpet and other walls, but I couldn’t make out any other words.
Rason’s couch was gone, and so was his recliner. His coffee table was the only furniture left in the room. I assumed that everything else had been destroyed somehow.
“The guys helped me haul the furniture to the dump this morning, and I’m going to paint tomorrow night. Luckily I have renters insurance, so the cost of everything is covered. That’s not the point of it to me. She broke into my house when she knew she wasn’t wanted here and violated my space.”
“Oh, Rason.” I stepped closer to him and wrapped my arms around his waist. I laid my head on his chest and felt his arms go around me. “What are the police going to do?”
“Last I heard, they were going to question her,” he sighed. “Knowing what I know now, she’ll lie and lie. If that doesn’t work, she’ll lose it and either resort to tears or have a fit.”
“Are you safe here?” I whispered.
“Yeah, it’s fine. I changed the locks just in case she somehow found a key, and I’ll keep an eye out. I’m worried that if she sees you here, she’ll follow you home. I didn’t know whether to cancel with you or what.”
“It seems like her anger is directed at you, for now. Let’s hope she’s said, or written, her peace and she’s done.”
“Let’s hope. On a lighter note,” Rason pulled away and looked down into my face, “I’ve got dinner to serve you and sitting on the floor at the coffee table will make it even more authentic.”
“Okay.” I nodded. “Let’s do something good and ignore the bad for a while.”
“Let’s do that. So, the first thing you’ll need to do is leave your shoes on the porch. Everyone is equal when they’re barefoot and it also leaves any bad energy at the doorstep.”
“Oh, okay.” I turned around and walked back out on the porch and kicked off my flip flops beside his athletic shoes. I walked back into the house and smiled. “Now what?”
“Have a seat. As the elder,” he winked, “and the guest, you get a place of honor at the table and you’re seated first.”
“The elder,” I scoffed as I sat down. “I’m just going to say that in my culture, mentioning that is in bad form.”
“How can you look so cute when you’re chewing me out?” Rason laughed as he walked into the kitchen. “It makes it hard to keep a straight face.”
“We’re going to eat the way you would at a family member or close friend’s home tonight,” Rason explained as he returned with a tray full of dishes. He set them each out on the table and then handed me a white bowl. He put another bowl across the table where he’d be sitting and handed me a set of chopsticks.
Rason sat down across from me and picked up the serving spoon that was in the rice. He motioned for me to give him my bowl.
“Use both hands when passing a dish,” he instructed. “I have no idea why.”
He scooped rice into my bowl and then handed it to me. I brought it back to the table in front of me with both hands. He put some rice in his bowl next and then picked up his chopsticks. He held them sideways and snapped them together a few times as he smiled at me.
“I’ve been practicing.” I laughed. “I had trail mix for a snack this morning and it took me almost an hour to eat what I’d brought, and probably a third of that ended up on the floor.”
“You should be good then. If you can pick up a peanut with them, you can eat food with them.”
“We’ll see. By the time I got done with my snack, it was almost lunchtime. Okay, continue with class, Mr. Harper.”
“Hold your rice bowl close to the dish you want and pick up the food and put it on top of the rice. Never pick through something you don’t