What's Andrew eating Volume 1 Episode 6

Canada Day

Fireworks exploded overhead and a chorus of ooo’s and ahhh’s was sung out by the eager crowd. The multi coloured lights and sparkles danced across the night sky and the silhouette shimmered across the water of the harbour. Kids ran up and down the beach with sparklers in hand carving out crimson and ochre letters into the darkness, their happy screams in harmony with some of the rockets. In the flashes of light you could see trails of smoke floating and weaving in and around the crowd. The scent of spent gunpowder was strong but the dying charcoal embers kept the fragrant memory of the evenings savory meals that were served to anxious mouths. Malcolm could still taste the Piments d'Esplette rubbed pan seared Chilean Sea Bass (sustainable!) with Iranian Saffron infused Jasmine rice and oven roasted heirloom cherry tomatoes. 

Sarah shifted closer to Malcolm as they sat on the old blue and red checkered wool blanket. She leaned in and started to whisper something in French when an explosive boom shattered the silence and made her scream impulsively. Malcolm yelled and jumped up nearly banged heads as he did. They both laughed as he massaged his ringing ear and fell onto his back. Sarah fell over top of him, her hair falling over his face. They stayed that way for only a minute but it was timeless.

It was Andrew sitting down beside them and the hiss of carbon escaping from the tin of coke that brought them back. “Ah, Malcolm, you are under there, brilliant. So did I ever tell you about the time I took the train down to Toronto when I was 10?”

Malcolm and Sarah sat up together and turned towards Andrew. “What do you mean, like a class trip or something” asked Sarah. “No, by myself” declared Andrew straightening up in a gesture of pride and pretended to straight a pretend tie. “My parents had no idea; it was a school day that I just didn’t go to school on. I told them I had band practice after school, you know, just in case I didn’t make it back in time. It was near the end of the year so the teachers didn’t ask and my parents fortunately never thought to question about a band practice.

“What did you do all day? Asked Malcolm. 

“I actually went to the Science Center, it was amazing. I practically ran through the entire place picking up anything that would move. It was amazing, best day ever! They had a Chinese exhibit going on and there was a huge singing bowl in the main gallery. It was filled with water and I actually got it to work so well that the water was rippling and dancing from the vibration. There was water spraying all over the floor and I guess I got a bit carried away laughing…that was when the security guard started walking towards me so I bailed and ran into the next hall.”
“I love it!” proclaimed Sarah, “I could never do something like that.” I spent most of my weekends wasting time on the phone.”

“Talking about boys no doubt” laughed Andrew.

 “Or complaining about them.” came a voice from behind them.

Malcolm turned to find his friend Scott standing beside them and lifted his hand up exposing his palm. Scott replied with a smack as he sat down cross legged as a new burst of colour filled the sky. Mozart was being played and was synced to add harmony to the visual display. It was a little American but no one seemed to mind. It was a sign that the end was coming to an end.

“I love this place” said Scott but I think my home is somewhere else.” It was a bit of a shock to hear but they all understood what he meant and no words were needed, friends and family together on a warm summer night, what could be more perfect than that.

“You know, I think that was around the same time I went to T.O. for some Kiss tickets” said Malcolm. “My sister started out with me on the Go train early in the morning but she got sick and asked if I’d be okay to go?” Obviously I said yes, and made my way to Sam the Record Man but after waiting in line for about an hour some guy came out and said they were out of tickets. But that the Eaton’s Center had a bunch. I ran down Younge Street as fast as I could and up the escalators to the sixth floor. I remember there being this huge line up all the way around the wall but Graham and Jamie were standing by a table holding tickets they already bought. I have to admit being a little naive about the concept of how line ups worked. I asked them were to buy the tickets and they laughed and pointed to the ticket counter. I just walked up going through the end of the line and stood looking at the board, someone asked how many tickets I wanted and that was it. I walked away in less than 10 min. The look of shock on their faces was priceless. Of course it wasn’t until days later I realized exactly what I did.”

 Andre choked on his drink and began coughing. “Somehow that doesn’t surprise me,” he laughed.

“We’re a good pair buddy, couple of real boy scouts. Remind me to tell you about the baseball tournament I was in last year.”

The music was getting louder and the fireworks more intense, boom, phhsssst, crack, bang. One after the other exploding over the water and in a heartbeat everything was black and quiet. Then spontaneous applause and the usual rush of excitement as everyone got up and headed for their cars or started walking home.

“Assuming you’re not sick of my cooking what would you say to coming over this weekend to try something new I’m working on? Asked Andrew. “You’re invited too Scot if you like?” I have a bunch of people from my cooking class coming over and we’re going to do a massive spread with all of our recipes.”