You've Been Replaced, First Love novel · Chapter 23 of 24
Chapter 23: No Speech
My father cooks brisket the way other men pray, slowly and with his back to the room.
On Sunday he set it on the table in his little Appleton kitchen.
His hands shook on the platter.
Maddox stood up.
He didn't ask, and he didn't make a thing of it.
He took the carving knife from the block and stood at my father's elbow.
"Thin or thick?" he said.
"Thin," said Ralph, after a second. "Against the grain."
"Yes, sir."
Maddox cut it against the grain, thin, steady, and laid each slice on the platter without a word.
My father watched his hands for the whole brisket.
When it was done, he sat down across from us and picked up his fork.
"The man with sawdust on his boots," he said, "can carve."
"Thank you, sir."
"You'll call me Ralph, or you'll call me nothing."
"Ralph."
"Good. Now eat, and tell me whether my daughter snores."
"Dad!"
"Like a freight train," Maddox said, and I threw a pickle at him.
My father laughed so hard he had to set the fork down in a saucer.
The rest of this chapter is part of the paid portion of the series. Chapters 1–12 of You've Been Replaced, First Love are free to read — start from the beginning, then unlock the rest with coins in the app.
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