Easter Two

Puck shoved down a mouthful of ham at “lupper” (a term I’m pretty sure my Dad coined back in the late 80’s). It was Easter a day early at the Silverspoon’s and Gloria had trucked out a large Trader Joe’s ham for the four hungry men/boy at the counter. Puck is a pork man, but he still wasn’t convinced about the flavoring.

“Agh!”

“What, Puck?”

I wouldn’t call him a picky eater by consumption, but maybe picky by anticipation.

“Why is this ham so sweet?”

“There’s honey in it,” Oxbear explained.

“I don’t like honey.”

“Yes, you do. You have it almost every day.”

Puck swallowed. “This is too much sweet.”

It wasn’t too much sweet later when he ran around collecting Easter eggs. Izzy had taken it upon himself to hide the 40 or so plastic shells around the back and front yards. Puck spent most of his time hunting for eye-based clues instead of the actual eggs themselves.

“You’re looking right at one right now, aren’t you?” he quizzed the spectators.

After awhile, I realized he was consuming more Starburst jelly beans, M&Ms, and pastel-brushed Cadbury mini eggs than necessary for the day prior to Easter.

“No more, Puck.”

He tossed an almond in his mouth. “Just havin’ some health. Here, Mom. Have some health.” He threw one to me also which landed with a rattle on the sidewalk.

I’m pretty convinced he just eats the candy because he knows he’s not supposed to have it. He crunched through a whole bowl’s worth of carrots and peppers before lunch without even thinking about it.

Anyway, once the eggs had been tallied about an hour later, Puck emptied the remaining eggs and organized the pile of spare change and dollar bill that about made his eyes pop out of their sockets – something about a paper bill; doesn’t matter the number on the front.

Awhile later he turned to Gloria, “Can I do anything to earn another dollar? Or can I just have it on the house?” He began looking for work opportunities in the living room, and grinned. “Could I close the door for a penny?”