Page 3 of Breakaway
"It's all going to be okay, right?"
No one answers.
?
Chapter 2: Wes
THEN
The garlic goes in last. That's the rule with sofrito and I learned it from a woman at the Calle Ocho farmers' market who told me I was burning everything and then spent twenty minutes showing me why. Eight years in Miami and the best cooking lesson I ever got was a stranger telling me I was doing it wrong.
The pan is good. The oil is right. I drop the garlic in, and the kitchen fills with that sweet smell. The peppers are cut thick enough to hold their shape through the braise. The pork shoulder has been cooking since midday.
Kevin lets himself in. Austin and Grant are behind him, Austin carrying wine he didn't need to bring and Grant carrying nothing, which tracks.
"Smells incredible," Kevin says. He puts his keys on the counter. "The pork shoulder?"
"Since noon."
"He's been in here since noon," Kevin says to Austin.
"Shocking," Austin says. He sets the wine on the counter and opens the cabinet where I keep the glasses. "Red or red?"
"Red," Kevin says.
"Bold choice. Grant?"
"Whatever's open." Grant has already settled onto the couch in the living room, one leg over the arm, shoes off. His foot is on my coffee table near the camera I left there this morning. He picks it up, turns it over, sets it back down. "You take anything good lately?"
"The water this morning. Overcast. Sun didn't come out."
"So no, you didn’t."
"So no."
I check the oven. The meat is ready to pull.
"All right," I say. "Kevin, you're pulling."
"I'm always pulling."
"Because you're good at it."
"I'm good at everything, but go on."
"Wes, am I pulling?" Austin asks, already pouring.
"You're pouring. Stay in your lane."
"I'd like to point out that I am doing nothing," Grant says from the couch, "and I am very comfortable with that."
"This is Grant's leadership style," Kevin says.
"Delegation," Grant says. "Look it up."
We shred the pork at the counter, two forks each. Pull, pile, pull, pile. Austin brings the wine over and lines up the four glasses on the counter next to the cutting board.
"You ready for training camp?" Kevin asks me.
