Percy's mother was an odd woman, no one in town would deny that, not even Percy's mother. She would openly admit she never felt very maternal about her son, or her cat, or her husband. She cared for them, as she felt she must. She loved them, as she also felt was her duty, but she never felt that pull that other women seemed to experience. It seemed to her it would hurt to much and she would much rather not have to hurt at all, so she tended to live on the fringes of her own life, observing as an impartial viewer the comings and goings of her own family. It wasn't a happy existence, but she was content not to feel much of anything, which gave her the illusion of happiness. Smoke screens and light tricks were good enough for Irene Cooper. It never occurred to her that her son might question their lives, that he might hunger for something else.
One day while Percy was sitting in the kitchen doing his homework, his mother plopped down a bowl of odd looking food that looked rather like green cigars with oil all over them. They had an odd smell, but Percy was curious.
What's this, asked Percy.
A shipment of these things came in yesterday to the store by mistake. Your father tried to return them, but the company that he got them from insisted that he had asked for them. Can you imagine that? Your father ordering these little green bullet looking thingies? Really? He didn't even know what they were called until he spoke to that nasty foreigner on the phone yesterday, she replied.
Well, what are they, Percy asked, as he poked at them with a fork.
Grape leaves is what he called them. Said there is rice inside. You like rice, don't you, she asked.
I guess so. Did you try one, he inquired.
Me? Good Lord child, no. I wouldn't put one of those heathen made confections in my mouth. Can you imagine a place where such food were considered normal?
Yes, he replied. I can imagine. Actually, what is normal? Normal is anything that is familiar to a group of people. This is familiar to someone. So it's normal somewhere in the world, and we're considered odd to them.
His mother laughed in response to that, as if her little General Store and her cozy existence could seem anything but normal to anyone.
Percy began to lift one of the grape leaves to his mouth and his mother shuddered.
Give me that, she said. I've changed my mind. We'll just throw them out.
Why, Mom, he asked. I want to try them.
Don't be silly Percy.
But I'm hungry, Mom. Aren't you hungry?
I don't know Percy. I just don't know.
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