Free Operation Get Rid of Mom's New Boyfriend by E. N. Joy Page A

that was close.”
    “ Tell me about it,” Daryn
agreed.
    Joy let out a sigh of
relief.
    “ Now hurry up,” Daryn told
Kennedy, who then quickly began covering Bo’s noodles with the
secret added ingredients. Daryn was right behind her wearing huge
oven mittens with the pan of sauce.
    Kennedy got a ladle and
began spooning spaghetti sauce on top of the mounds of hot sauce
and pepper. “Joy, go ahead and put sugar in the punch, but put
that other kind of sugar in Mr. Bo’s special glass that we set aside for
him.”
    “ What other kind of sugar?”
Joy asked with a puzzled look on her face.
    “ The kind that looks just
like sugar, only it ain’t sweet,” Kennedy told her.
    Joy thought for a minute
then said, “Ohhhh; I get it,” as she retrieved the container of
salt and followed her oldest sister’s instructions.
    Moments later, Sammi
entered the kitchen, followed by her date. “Girls, I want you to
meet Bo. Bo, this is Kennedy, my oldest,” Sammi pointed to each of
her daughters, “Daryn, my middle girl, and Joy, my
baby.”
    “ Hi, Mr. Bo,” the girls
said in unison as they each sat in front of their plates with fake,
innocent smiles plastered on their faces.
    It wasn’t hard for the
girls to see why their mother had taken such a liking to this Bo
character. He was a nice looking fella if the girls had to admit it
themselves. However, they would never admit it themselves; not out
loud anyway.
    “ Hello, little ladies,” Bo
greeted. “It’s an honor to meet you.” He smiled and his sparkling
white teeth shined like something out of a cartoon.
    “ Have a seat,” Sammi
instructed him as she pointed at one of the two empty settings at
the table that could seat up to six people.
    “ You first,” Bo replied as
he proceeded to pull out the chair of one of the empty
settings.
    “ Nooo, not there!” all the
girls yelled.
    Bo and Sammi were startled
by their loud outburst.
    “ That’s Mr. Bo’s plate.
Uh…we…uh…really piled the food on Mr. Bo’s plate,” Kennedy
stammered. “You, know, with him being a big, strong man and all.”
She flexed her muscles and puffed out her cheeks.
    “ Uh, well, okay,” Sammi
said, looking at Kennedy strangely.
    Both Sammi and Bo sat down
in their seats assigned by the girls.
    “ Shall I open with prayer?”
Bo asked.
    “ Sure,” Sammi smiled, proud
that she had a praying man. Even though Sammi and the girls didn’t
go to church as regularly as they had when Mr. Soul was alive, they
still frequented the church Mr. Soul had been a member of. As the
head of the family, Mr. Soul had always prayed over his family’s
food before they ate their meals. That was something that the girls
still did. So for Sammi, it was nice to see that Bo would fit right
in, in that aspect anyway.
    After Bo said the prayer he
playfully added, “Now let’s dig in.” He admired the food before
him. “I hope it’s as delicious as it smells,” Bo said, picking up a
forkful of spaghetti.
    “ Me, too,” Sammi said.
“It’s one of my best dishes. I hope you enjoy.”
    “ I’m sure I will.” Bo put
the forkful in his mouth while the girls sat watching him chew,
waiting for some type of reaction. After a few seconds, Bo could
tell that he was being watched. He quickly looked up from his plate
to find the three sisters staring at him. They each immediately
looked away and began digging in their own plates.
    Bo decided to strike up a
conversation. “So, girls, I hear you all go to the same school.
Must be nice.”
    “ Yeah,” Sammi answered for
her daughters, whose mouths were full. “I was really glad to find a
school that went from kindergarten all the way up to twelfth grade.
That means the girls can always be there to watch out for each
other.”
    “ I would have liked being
in school with my siblings all of my school years, but
unfortunately, I’m an only child,” Bo informed them.
    The girls weren’t the least
bit interested in Bo’s family life. However, Sammi