fighting my own self

               “That’s real fuckin’ sad, kid.” Why the fuck was a seventeen year old out shopping for avocados in the first place? Maybe the kid’s mom was something like how his was at that age — a complete lush who couldn’t get her ass off the couch to do a damn thing. “Bet on me when it comes to a fight, not the fruit and veggies section of the market.” Deciding on random and instant comradery, Dean’s heavy arm draped across the kid’s shoulders and pulled him a little tighter to his side. Almost treating him like Carter, his little brother. “Here ya go, bag em up.” Tossing one, then another, and finally a third of the potential guacamole the new unfortunate friend’s way and leaving him to catch said items took place before the kid was dragged on with him. “We’re neighbors, Dave? And you’re what — about to barbecue or some shit and ya haven’t extended an invite my way? You’re hurtin’ my feelin’s already, bruh.”

“What’s sad about it? I’m just trying to learn how to cook over here.” David frowned, confused at the guy’s words. The stranger, towering above him despite the fact that David himself was pretty tall, totally caught him off guard when he put an arm around his broad shoulders. He barely managed to catch two of the avocados being thrown his way, but the third one fell on the floor with an unfortunate thud. David let out an awkward laugh. “Uhh, I’ve never actually tried to grill an avocado, I was actually planning on making guacamole.” the blond said. “But if you’re into that and some nachos, I can share I guess.” Any other time, he would’ve tried to avoid the guy’s self-imposed invitation. But he needed to make friends around here, right? Even if it was with some unusual faces. Getting out of your comfort zone was key. 

“I mean. I can do gauc sometimes but I’m more a queso guy myself if we’re dipping it with tortilla chips,” he laughed with a shrug. Robert picked one up and considered buying it just to have because he knew people liked them so he might as well try again, especially when the other man mentioned something with chocolate. “Did you say chocolate? Because now I’m intrigued and need more information.” Bagging the avocado, Robert tossed it into his basket and nodded his head in understanding. “Totally get you on that front. Eating healthy is hard. I tried to cut out carbs a few years back but couldn’t do it when I started to miss bagels.”

”Oof, I do love queso as well.” David expressed passionately. “Basically you blend avocado with some maple syrup and cocoa, it’s heaven.” He could talk about food all day, truly. “I did that too while I was losing weight. Worst six months of my life, to be honest. The first thing I did after was eat a whole pan of mac and cheese all by myself.” he laughed. “If I had to pick abs over carbs, I’d pick carbs any day. Which is why we have this...” he patted himself on his belly. He was in an okay shape, but far from what he’d looked like in his early twenties. 

Taking out her phone, Allie started to look up the answer only to discover that most all of them were videos showing her how to figure it out. “Well, Google has become YouTube and I don’t understand how describing squeezing something to the internet is helpful. I thought there’d be something like…if there’s a dent in one side, don’t pick that one, that’s a bad option.” 

“Grocery shopping should be far simpler than this.” David sighed, putting three avocados in his bag without checking any of them. “Screw it, I’ll just cross my fingers and hope for the best.” he shrugged, glancing at the woman. “Thanks for helping a stranger, I appreciate it.” he added quickly. “If you need help taking your groceries back to your car, I can help. It’s the least I can do for taking up your time.” 

Beginners luck at its finest. Most of the time Ernesto would have to stand going through avocados for a couple of minutes before he could say he had ended up with a decent one, “No problem at all. I do. Started from a young age,” his mother was never around to do any cooking that didn’t require being blasted in the micro but alas that was not something to share, “First time for you? Or getting ingredients for that special someone?” 

“That’s awesome, being able to make your own meals from scratch.” David said. “What’s your favorite thing to make? I’m all ears here.” He chuckled when the man asked if he was preparing something for a special someone. “God, no. If I had a special someone I’d rely on catering, for sure.” He wouldn’t trust himself to make a three-course meal for a girl. “I’m just trying out some new hobbies now that I’m unemployed. I never had the time to do it before.” he said. “I’m David, by the way.” 

“I dunno, it might be just a lie that people said to try and get people to stop buying all the good avocados” she joked with a half hearted shrug, now inclined to add avocados to the mix of fruit she was going to buy. “But I’ll take a good deed. Don’t usually get to do a lot of them so-”. Following her own advice, she flicked the top of the avocado, checking the colour and giving it a light squeeze. “Yeah see I usually buy my guac in a container and let other people do the hard work making it, but then again”. She looked up and over at the man with a smile, “I’m a bit of a culinary philistine”

“That would be such a great conspiracy.” David chuckled. “When I worked at a hospital all I did was eat out of containers, I’m trying to turn a new leaf here, you know.” he explained. “But I can appreciate that not everyone has the time or desire to be slaving away in the kitchen for hours.” He just happened to have nothing better to do. “I’m fairly new to town, what place do you recommend for dinner?”

@greerkingstcn​

During the two months that he’d been here in Wilmington, David had spent most of his time exploring the vast nature this place had to offer and being mostly alone with his thoughts. The fresh air was helping tremendously with his mood - it was crazy how clear the air was compared to what he’d been breathing for most of his life in Los Angeles. Another thing that had vastly improved was his sleep. He didn’t have as many nightmares as he used to. But that didn’t mean he had forgotten what happened. While he absolutely enjoyed his downtime, it was becoming clear to him that this unproductive life wasn’t for him. David thrived when he was busy and of service to others, so when he saw an online ad about help wanted at the Kingston ranch, he thought It was a great opportunity to do some good. David absolutely loved animals and the photos of the place were beautiful, so after giving it some thought, he contacted the people there and drove up to the ranch with his rented car the following day. 

Upon arrival, David was surprised at how big the farm actually was in real life. He took his time walking around the property, and when he made it to the horse barn he found a nice office in the back.  He knocked a few times before going in. “Hi,” he started, “I’m supposed to meet up with Greer about helping out here at the property? I’m David.” 

Robert was doing his weekly grocery shopping, wanting to try out a few new recipes that he’d found on the internet that were supposed to be healthy- good for you type of stuff that didn’t sound too terrible so with his list in hand, he started browsing the produce. He decided to sub out a few things that the recipes called for and sighed when he stood in front of the avocados. They weren’t really his thing, it definitely the texture of them and he wondered if he could just skip over buying them completely when he turned to the voice on his right. “I’m gonna be completely honest with you, man. I don’t really like the things but I think if it’s firm when you give it a squeeze, they’re good to go.”

David stared at the man. “Wait, not even as guacamole?” he wondered while picking up another avocado to give it a good squeeze. Seemed fine. “I’m not a fan of it on toast, but I also found this recipe for a chocolate avocado mousse. Wild. I’m trying to eat healthier but this shopping thing has proved to be a struggle.” 

               “Ah, fuckin hell.” Attention snatched and whipped in the direction of a fellow shopper, Dean was unabashed with his response. “Do I look like I know a god damn thing about avocados?” Fingers rose to the top of his massive 6′3′’ frame and combed his mane back from his face. He wasn’t a man with much rhyme or reason, it was snatch and grab what was appealing and tossed into a basket or cart if he needed more than what his two hands could carry. This was saying a lot given that Dean wasn’t a man that really kept a stocked fridge or groceries at his house. He ate on the fly, a regular at Dirty Dan’s and The Copper Penny, and didn’t really give a fuck otherwise. It was more work and effort than necessary, which was something he saved for things that didn’t feel like work. Picking one of the oval green things up, Dean tossed it into the air and caught it — “if it’s hard, it ain’t ready yet. That’s the best I got for ya, and kid — that only applies to the fruits and veggies here.” Who knew what sex ed classes were telling kids these days? Or even if they still had those classes.

“Yeah, you don’t look like you know any more than I do about this stuff, but you’re my best bet here.” David shrugged, looking around the half-empty store. Back home at his local Whole Foods, the atmosphere was much different. The people, too. But that’s why he’d moved. “Got it, thanks,” he told the man, ignoring the ‘kid’ part. He knew he had a babyface, that never got old. “We’re neighbors, right? I think I’ve seen you around before. I just moved here a few months ago, I’m David.” 

Since a child his grandmother had him in the kitchen, probably because she had known that as time went on that the two of them were going to reverse the role. Though most of the cooking at the Cortes family was still done via his Abuelita. There were times that he stepped in but he was the main chef only at his own house. His wife could not cook to save her life. It always ended up being a giant mess, thus something else that Ernesto had decided to take over. Now he was a single man household, so he really was just fending for himself while he made his way towards the avocado sections, an ingredient that was a must in the majority of his recipes. “Ah that is simple – there is an easy trick actually. What you do is peel back the small stem or cap that is at the top of the avocado. Then if it comes away easily and you find green underneath, you’ve got a good avocado otherwise just throw that back in there.” 

Listening intently to what the man was saying, David took note and tried to peel the top part of the avocado. It came off easily and, like the man had said, it was a nice green color. “Thanks man, I appreciate the advice.” he smiled, checking a few more avocados and placing them carefully in his bag. “Do you cook a lot? You look like you know your stuff.” 

Pretending she was a chef and knew what she was doing was Allie’s favorite past-time, or at least she liked to sit in her kitchen and make things and pretend like they were masterpieces and not some simple recipe that she found online. Now, with the baby coming, she was attempting to do better and not be that parent who just ended up ordering out more often than not, which is how she found herself at Robert’s Market, trying to find something to try and cook. She didn’t, however, expect her knowledge to be tested this quickly. Glancing over at the man asking her, she couldn’t help but laugh. “Honestly, I’ve always just thrown them in my cart and prayed but…I can look it up? Help you figure it out? Maybe we both can learn then.”

“So you choose to trust the universe when it comes to avocados, I like that.” David said lightheartedly. “Yeah sure, I suppose when it comes to this serious of a matter it’s better to rely on Google than humans.” he leaned against the shelves of produce, waiting to hear what the internet had to say. 

It was almost laughable how Violet’s life morphed from being pampered from head to toe, meals being sent to her, whereas for the past several years it’d been a nice go in the kitchen, a stack of cookbooks now lounging on her countertop. This had also meant a weekly trip to the nearby grocery store, beginning in the vegetable section as she usually did. Venturing over to the oranges section, right next to the avocados section, Violet started to debate on if she even wanted any oranges for a possible smoothie recipe when a male’s timbre sounded beside her. “They’re perfect. I like to go for the ones in the back, less touched and more fresh, it seems. First timer?”

David nodded at the advice and grabbed a few avocados from the back row and dropped them in his bag. “So you’re the kinda person that always avoids the very first product on the shelf.” he glanced at her, his tone judgment-free. “My first time shopping for vegetables? No.” he chuckled. “My first time trying to make homemade guacamole all by myself? ...Yes. Desperate times.”

It didn’t seem possible to have a three day hangover, and yet there it was, still thumping away in the back of her head like a drum. She’d sworn to herself when she’d rolled out of the strangers bed the morning after the wedding that she wasn’t going to do it again – that she would get her drinking in check, that she would stop sleeping with strangers. Her life was going to change. But that decision had reversed in the space of 24 hours when she’d thrown open her fridge and realised she was out of wine. That was what had sent her to Robert’s Market, as well as for some actual groceries to fill up the empty space in her fridge. Slowly she strolled through the aisles, trying not to move too fast just in case that set her nausea off again before she came to a stop, resting in front of the veg stand where she began to pick out the best pallet of mushrooms.

Slowly she moved across, pausing in front of the peppers on offer. It was only once she’d reached to grasp a red pepper however, that she realised that someone was trying to talk to her. “Huh?”. Frowning, she plucked the pepper and dropped it in the paper bag, before she turned to the person who had been talking about. One look at the avocados in her hand told her enough. “Uhm, I think you’re supposed to knock that little nubby bit off the top. If it’s light green it’s not ripe enough. Or at least, I think that’s what it means”

Looking at the spot the woman mentioned on the avocado, David went through a few before he was able to find a ripe one. “Oh I see it.” he said, placing it in his reusable bag. “You’ve done a good deed today.” he joked, smiling at the stranger. “I’ve been craving guac like crazy but my fresh produce shopping experience is...very limited.” 

Cooking had never been David’s strong suit (not that he had much time to cook with his previous job as a physician). Ever since he’d started eating healthy, he tried his best to eat food in the simplest form, which meant his meals were mostly boring. But now that he was unemployed and had all this free time on his hands, he was really into to experimenting a bit more in the kitchen. So, here he was, wandering around Robert’s Market, crossing things off his grocery list one by one. He’d been inspecting the avocados for several minutes when he noticed someone nearby. There was no shame in asking for help, right?

 “Do these avocados seem ripe to you? I could never figure out how people recognize when they’re just right.”