wouldn’t know. The only person on the poor side of the family who has anything to do with Junior and Claude is my cousin Jane.”
“Is that Junior’s daughter or something?” Heaven asked, then remembered Stephanie had specified the poor side of the family. It couldn’t be Junior’s daughter.
“No, Junior has two daughters and Claude has a boy. None of them live in Kansas City or work for the company elsewhere. Jane is my Aunt Carol’s only child.”
Uh, oh. A traitor. “So Jane speaks to her uncles. How come?”
“It’s worse than that. Jane actually works for Foster’s. She’s in charge of the graphic design department. It really upset Mom and Aunt Carol. But Jane, we call her Janie, has always been a bit of a problem.”
“How a problem?” Heaven asked.
“When she was a kid, she was fat. Then she had bulimia or something. I remember Mom and Dad talking about it, Mom telling Dad how he was a doctor and he had to help. Janie got as thin as a rail when we were in high school.”
“And now? Oh, do you see her or is she banished because of her job?”
“Oh, no. My mother would never do that. I see her three or four times a year. Now she’s a health nut, with an emphasis on the ‘nut.’ She brings enough vitamins to a family dinner to choke a horse. And she has to take them in just the right order, some before, some after she eats.”
Heaven had lost interest in cousin Jane. She didn’t think she’d learned much for Bonnie Weber. “At least she doesn’t sneak in your bathroom and puke. Now can we talk about my masterpiece?”
“What do you want to make?”
Heaven shrugged. “I want it to have at least three different treatments of chocolate, but I don’t know if it’s a cake or ice cream or what. I want something about it to be surrealistic, like art.”
“Well, the body part thing has been done. Even here on the Plaza I sell chocolate legs and breasts. I can’t do a chocolate penis or I’d lose my lease. So you don’t want to do body parts.”
“What about animals?” Heaven asked.
“No, too easy. Think chocolate Easter rabbit. I’ll think about it overnight but I do know one thing it has to have,” Stephanie said.
“What’s that?”
“You’re a chef. Whatever it is, it has to have a big chocolate cleaver sticking out of it.”
J oe Long and Heaven Lee walked into the Woodside Racquet Club. An easel in the lobby told them the semifinals of the women’s body building contest was across the street in the gym. Woodside was a health club, swimming pool and tennis court complex just to the west of the Plaza. Heaven and Joe headed across the street, walking fast to keep out of the cold. The sunny, forty-degree days turned into nippy, twenty-degree nights as soon as the sun went down.
“I smell snow,” Joe said happily.
“Me too,” Heaven agreed. “I can hardly wait. We haven’t had a good snow yet. There was that little, half-ass snow shower around Thanksgiving.”
The gym was steamy with bodies and the air smelled of sweat socks, expensive aftershave and disinfectant. Even upper-middle-class bodies perspired. The aerobics classes at peak times were held in the gym, along withstep, yoga and Tae Bo. There were also men’s and women’s basketball teams sponsored by the club. But tonight, the bleachers had been pulled down and a stage had been erected under one basketball hoop. It had the energy of a small-town beauty contest or talent show. Heaven and Joe looked around.
“I wonder if it’s like a wedding,” Joe murmured. “I’d hate to sit on the wrong side.”
The crowd seemed to be equally divided on the two sides of the gym, sitting about halfway up on each side. “Where’s your friend?” Heaven asked.
“Oh, I’m sure they’re all in the back, oiling up their bodies. I wouldn’t want to bother her. They get nervous, just like us actors,” Joe said with authority. “Let’s sit down.”
It was then that Heaven noticed the Foster’s Chocolate
“Is that Junior’s daughter or something?” Heaven asked, then remembered Stephanie had specified the poor side of the family. It couldn’t be Junior’s daughter.
“No, Junior has two daughters and Claude has a boy. None of them live in Kansas City or work for the company elsewhere. Jane is my Aunt Carol’s only child.”
Uh, oh. A traitor. “So Jane speaks to her uncles. How come?”
“It’s worse than that. Jane actually works for Foster’s. She’s in charge of the graphic design department. It really upset Mom and Aunt Carol. But Jane, we call her Janie, has always been a bit of a problem.”
“How a problem?” Heaven asked.
“When she was a kid, she was fat. Then she had bulimia or something. I remember Mom and Dad talking about it, Mom telling Dad how he was a doctor and he had to help. Janie got as thin as a rail when we were in high school.”
“And now? Oh, do you see her or is she banished because of her job?”
“Oh, no. My mother would never do that. I see her three or four times a year. Now she’s a health nut, with an emphasis on the ‘nut.’ She brings enough vitamins to a family dinner to choke a horse. And she has to take them in just the right order, some before, some after she eats.”
Heaven had lost interest in cousin Jane. She didn’t think she’d learned much for Bonnie Weber. “At least she doesn’t sneak in your bathroom and puke. Now can we talk about my masterpiece?”
“What do you want to make?”
Heaven shrugged. “I want it to have at least three different treatments of chocolate, but I don’t know if it’s a cake or ice cream or what. I want something about it to be surrealistic, like art.”
“Well, the body part thing has been done. Even here on the Plaza I sell chocolate legs and breasts. I can’t do a chocolate penis or I’d lose my lease. So you don’t want to do body parts.”
“What about animals?” Heaven asked.
“No, too easy. Think chocolate Easter rabbit. I’ll think about it overnight but I do know one thing it has to have,” Stephanie said.
“What’s that?”
“You’re a chef. Whatever it is, it has to have a big chocolate cleaver sticking out of it.”
J oe Long and Heaven Lee walked into the Woodside Racquet Club. An easel in the lobby told them the semifinals of the women’s body building contest was across the street in the gym. Woodside was a health club, swimming pool and tennis court complex just to the west of the Plaza. Heaven and Joe headed across the street, walking fast to keep out of the cold. The sunny, forty-degree days turned into nippy, twenty-degree nights as soon as the sun went down.
“I smell snow,” Joe said happily.
“Me too,” Heaven agreed. “I can hardly wait. We haven’t had a good snow yet. There was that little, half-ass snow shower around Thanksgiving.”
The gym was steamy with bodies and the air smelled of sweat socks, expensive aftershave and disinfectant. Even upper-middle-class bodies perspired. The aerobics classes at peak times were held in the gym, along withstep, yoga and Tae Bo. There were also men’s and women’s basketball teams sponsored by the club. But tonight, the bleachers had been pulled down and a stage had been erected under one basketball hoop. It had the energy of a small-town beauty contest or talent show. Heaven and Joe looked around.
“I wonder if it’s like a wedding,” Joe murmured. “I’d hate to sit on the wrong side.”
The crowd seemed to be equally divided on the two sides of the gym, sitting about halfway up on each side. “Where’s your friend?” Heaven asked.
“Oh, I’m sure they’re all in the back, oiling up their bodies. I wouldn’t want to bother her. They get nervous, just like us actors,” Joe said with authority. “Let’s sit down.”
It was then that Heaven noticed the Foster’s Chocolate
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