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Elka’s Pork and Sauerkraut

1/1/2025

Sarah stirred. It was strangely bright, and her back was tense and twisted. The pillow felt weird. She tried to roll over but found herself on the floor. ‘What the heck?’

She rubbed her eyes and looked around.

Grace was curled up on the couch. Finding no resistance, she stretched her legs out to where Sarah had recently been. ‘No wonder the pillow felt weird.’

She searched the floor for her phone. ‘Might be tangled up in the blankets under Grace.’

Tapping and scraping sounds came through from the kitchen. She debated whether to go in for breakfast or get cleaned up first. She heard a humming. ‘Oh, there it is.’ She reached into the kangaroo pocket on her hoodie.

Good 🌄 Morning

‘He’s a morning person. I hadn’t noticed that before.’

Hi
Happy New Year

She itched her head and tried to forget that she had just realized she’d been using Grace’s behind as a pillow.

Anything planned for today?

‘Probably best if I head over there and talk to Leo.’ She headed for the stairs, but Josh was halfway down.

“Hey, Sis. Happy New Year.”

“Hi, Josh. Happy New Year.” She stepped back to let him descend.

“Feeling alright?”

“Alright, I guess. My back’s kind of stiff.”

“I’m not surprised. You and Grace were all pretzeled up on the couch. A nice hot shower ought to help with that.”

“Good idea. Think I will.” Sarah dashed upstairs and into Emma’s room.

No plans other than
Elka’s pork and sauerkraut

She regretted she didn’t have an en suite like her tiny apartment. She gathered up clothes to wear after her shower.

Feel like a Zavijava run?

He had hesitated to send that, but it felt like the only way to get some alone time with her. She didn’t respond right away, so he went to the bathroom. ‘Door’s closed.’ He gave a knock to reserve his place in line.

“Almost done.”

It wasn’t Mom. She has her own bathroom with Dad. It didn’t sound like Joan. ‘Who is that?’

Whitney opened the door. “Sorry.”

“No need to be sorry. That’s just how we mark our place in line. Did you sleep alright?”

She smiled and nodded, which threatened to topple the towel that was piled up on her head. “Very relaxing. I didn’t realize how exhausted I was.”

“Make sure you wear that to the hospital when you go back to see Joe. He’s going to appreciate that.”

She looked down at the shirt. “I just grabbed the top shirt in his drawer.” It was a dove gray raglan with cobalt blue sleeves and collar. The Kairys & Becker Group logo featured a builder’s square in matte silver and the same blue as the sleeves. “He won’t be mad?”

“Absolutely not.” Leo smiled. “Definitely wear that to the hospital. He’ll be cured in a day.” He slipped into the bathroom to brush his teeth. He put his phone on the counter while he dabbed toothpaste onto his toothbrush.

Yes, that would
be wonderful

‘Consider it done.’ He studied his appearance as he brushed his teeth. ‘Might as well shower while you’ve got the room. Hope Whitney didn’t use all the hot water.’

I’ll be over
in half an hour

Sarah read that and smiled as she dried her hair. ‘That’s good. Probably take me that long to convince Elka to let me go.’

She looked through her collection of visiting clothes. Most of her stuff was back at the apartment. She didn’t want to seem like she was taking over Emma’s room. ‘It’s so darn cold out. Better wear some layers.’

She went with her standard sweatshirt and jeans. The sweatshirt was a deep navy with a jolly snowman on it. ‘Nothing says stupid cold weather like a snowman.’ She fluffed her hair and dashed downstairs. “Good morning.”

“Hey, did you sleep okay?” Elka was stirring a pan of scrambled eggs.

Josh was sitting at the table digging in. “Hope you’ve got another dozen stashed away. I could go for another dish.”

Grace was propping her head up on her arm. Sarah blushed and kept her back to her godsister. Elka noticed that.

“Going somewhere?”

“Leo’s going to take me to Zavijava.”

“Are they even open? It’s a holiday. Why don’t you just have breakfast here?”

“I can…”

Grace moaned. “She wants some alone time with Leo. She’ll be fine.”

Sarah looked at Elka and twiddled her thumbs.

“Why are you so fidgety? Are you alright?” Elka brought the pan over to replenish Josh’s plate with eggs.

He grabbed the ketchup. “Ah, she’s just weirded out because she was using Grace’s dupa as a pillow.”

They could hear Staś laughing from down the hallway.

‘I always wondered what it would be like to have a brother. This is not what I pictured.’ She held her arms up over her face. “Josh!”

Grace swatted at him as she pushed herself up from the table. “You’re a menace.” She staggered toward the living room door. “Gonna get a shower.”

“Anyway, Leo will be over in a moment.” Sarah held her hands up over her bright red cheeks. “We won’t be long.”

“You go ahead, honey. Just be back by, what?” Staś emerged from the hallway. “One?”

“No, Stanisław. The pork and sauerkraut will be done by two. Get a plate.” She held the pan of eggs with a vice grip.

“Uh-oh. You’d better go wait for Leo out front. She’s up to Stanisław. If the middle name comes out, we’re all in trouble.” Josh grinned.

“You, eat your eggs.” She pointed at him with the rubber spatula. “Get a plate before the bottomless pit here eats all the eggs.”

Staś patted Sarah on the shoulder and tipped his chin toward the door as he reached into the cabinet for a plate. She took the hint and hurried to the front door.

“Now, what did you do that for? I thought you wanted them to slow down.” She scooped eggs onto his plate as he sat down.

“If all she wants to do is drive halfway across town for an expensive cup of hot chocolate, what’s the harm? It’s a holiday. We can set some ground rules for regular time when she gets home.”

Josh was tearing through his second serving. “It’s not regular time until Tuesday.”

“He’s right.” Staś shrugged. “Do you have her present for Monday?”

“Yes. I hope it’s not too much. Mary and I got carried away at the store, I think.”

“How many chances do you get to start fresh on the road to Heaven?” Staś dug in. “These are perfect. Josh, you need to find a woman who cooks like your mother.”

“Dude, what?” Josh dropped his fork. “Find a woman who looks like Mom? No offense, but that’s messed up.”

Staś wiped his mouth with a napkin. “Cooks. Find a woman who cooks like your mom.” He pointed at his dish of eggs. “Don’t be a numbskull.”

Sarah could hear them all the way to the front door as she looked out the sidelights to watch for Leo. ‘Present for Monday? Oh, thank God, here he comes.’ She took a deep breath to tamp down her excitement. “I’m leaving now. Be back for pork and sauerkraut.”

She dashed out into the circle out front and regretted it instantly. “Leo! It’s so cold! Where’s your car?”

“I had to park down the block a little for last night’s thing.” He held his arm up against the wind. “Come on. It’s just down here.”

She screeched as the wind cut at her face and blew her hair around. “Open the door!”

He dashed ahead to get the door for her. “You can make it! Come on.” She climbed in and he closed it behind her.

“Woo, that was a lot. Huh?” Leo plopped into the driver’s seat and the wind slammed his door shut for him.

Sarah sat there pouting.

“What’s the matter? Did something happen?”

“It was a hard night. They wouldn’t let me talk to you. I just wanted to hear your voice. I want your voice to be the last one I hear before I fall asleep. Is that so much to ask?”

“I’m okay with that.” He started up the car and gunned the heat. “We should be comfortable in a moment here.”

“Do you believe, Leo?”

“Believe in what? Sasquatch?”

“Stop being a boy for two seconds. God. Do you believe in God?”

“Well, of course I do. Don’t you?”

“Only enough to hate him for taking my parents from me.”

“Is this because you were scared for Joe? He’s alright. He’s not going anywhere.”

“That’s what started it, but my parents. They’re never ever coming back, Leo. That’s so not fair.” She wept. “Why did that happen? Why did Joe get such a bad infection just doing his job? What kind of God makes that stuff happen?”

“Oh, Sarah. I’m sorry you have to feel that way.”

“Don’t you?”

“Not really. I haven’t been tested like you and I hope I never am. Some people, like you, are tough.”

“I’m tough? I’ve never in my life been called tough. Why are you so ridiculous?” She sobbed.

Leo popped the lid of the console between the seats and pulled some tissues out for her.

“I don’t get it. Even if you never lost anybody, you have to see how awful it is that God makes these things happen.”

“It’s not that exactly. Life is just life. Stuff happens. It’s our faith in God that helps us get through those difficult times.” He held her hand.

“But how? I don’t believe that at all.”

“It’s definitely going to make OCIA a challenge.” He scratched his chin. “Were you religious at all before what happened to your parents?”

“Not really. They took me to Sunday School, but it just seemed…”

Leo held her hand and waited.

“I don’t know. Like, irrelevant. Bunch of stuff that happened a long time ago in some other country. Why do I even care?”

“Seems like they didn’t deliver the message very well. I’m sorry about that. What do you believe?”

“I believe God killed my parents and left me alone in a big house by myself for no good reason at all. I believe I lived at that house for years, hoping it was a lie and they’d just come back. I believe I lost my mind last year and tried to end it.”

He kissed her hand. “That’s so terribly hard. It’s no wonder you feel the way you do.”

“Why? Why did he take them away, Leo? I wasn’t a bad person. I didn’t do anything near bad enough to be punished like that.”

“No, of course not. Honey, your parents were murdered by some psycho supervillain. It could have been a mugger with a knife or a bus stuck across the railroad tracks. Horrible stuff happens to people all the time. It’s not God’s idea. He’s not making it happen.”

“Says you.”

“Sure.”

“You don’t have any proof. You just have dumb stories about people nobody cares about.”

“Your parents had the foresight to take care of you, even though they weren’t there to do it themselves. Most kids in your position would have gone into foster care. You might have gotten nice ones, or maybe not. Totally random, but you didn’t because your folks were looking out for you.”

“Still not proof.”

“You tried to freeze yourself, but the pastor’s wife came to check on you.”

“Not proof.”

“All those people came to your house to show you love. You didn’t think you had any friends, but they all came because they love you. God put all these people in your life to protect you and look after you.”

“Nice people. Not God.”

“Dr. Hu has done a lot of work getting you back from your terrible state. Don’t you think that’s a blessing from God?”

“She’s just doing her job.”

“Do I count at all?”

She turned to him, eyes brimming with tears. “What do you mean?”

“If you hadn’t tried to demolish Santa’s chair with your face, I probably wouldn’t have taken any notice of you. If I hadn’t held your hand to help you up, I wouldn’t have known you were the one. You said you felt it, too. At the mall, right?”

“Yes.”

“Can you explain that? How could that be anything but a blessing from God?”

“So, what you’re saying is that it’s your fault my parents are dead.” She sniffled and blew her nose.

He squinted at her. “No, that’s not really where I thought this was going.”

“Of course, you’re a blessing from God. The same God who took my parents gave me you.”

“Okay, we’re making some kind of progress here.”

“I guess.”

“You said you wanted to live again, like George Bailey.”

“Because of you. Not God.”

“But I’m not God, Sarah. I didn’t give you life. I might give you a reason to choose life, but life comes from God.”

“Shut up already and get me some peppermint white cocoa.”

“Okay, but let’s be clear about–”

“I’m working on it, Leo. Take me to Zavijava or your ear is getting super wet.”

“I’m not sure if that’s progress, either.” He put it in drive and pulled out of his spot. “Tell me you don’t blame God for losing your parents.”

“I didn’t lose them. They were taken.”

“By a supervillain, not God.”

“Who made the supervillain?”

“People are born pure and good. Their choices turn them away from God and they become evil. Wait until you see Emma’s baby for the first time. Nobody is born evil. That’s how God brings us into the world. Pure and good and beautiful. It’s the world that wrecks everything up so that people turn bad.”

“Okay, okay. I said I’m working on it. Just drive.”

“I like your snowman.”

“I like your ear. I think I can reach it.”

“Okay, I’ll stop talking and let you work on it.”

She rolled her eyes and looked out the window. She could see the bell tower of St. Casimir’s and the picturesque St. Hedwig’s up on its hill. She could see the gap in the trees where she knew the Zavijava was. She looked back at the hospital and thought about Joe.

If it hadn’t been for his work, he wouldn’t have gotten sick.

If it hadn’t been for his work, he wouldn’t have had insurance for his treatment.

If it hadn’t been for people who study their whole lives to take care of people, Joe would be dead and she would probably still be in a dissociative state.

It was more than just good people doing good things.

It was their faith in God inspiring them to try harder, be kinder, do better.

She smiled and thought about how she had come to be with Leo and how it had given her more family than she knew what to do with.

God had let them all love her and accept her, despite what she had tried to do.

“Let’s skip the Zavijava and go see Joe.”