A Little Trifle

By Amanda Lawrence Auverigne

            "A trifle?" Maggie asked.

            "Yeah, that's what it's called." Lea replied.

            "It looks really good." Maggie said.

            "Yeah, it looks really pretty in that dish. You can see all of the layers." Lea said.

            "What's in it?" Maggie asked.

            Maggie licked her lips while she stared at the large glass dish that lay on the counter in front of her.

            "Lots of good stuff."  Lea responded.

            Lea grabbed a large silver spoon from the counter and she moved to the large glass dish.  She dipped the shiny utensil into the center of the layered dessert.  She scooped up bits of fruit, chocolate chunks, whipped cream, cookie bits and nut clusters.  

            Maggie raised her plate.  She tapped her golden fork against the porcelain platter.

            "Well, bring it on, partner in crime."  Maggie said.

            Lea lowered the sweet-filled spoon into the center of Maggie's plate.

            Maggie dipped her fork into the dessert.  She scooped up a large portion of the sweet.  She lifted the golden utensil to her lips and she shoved it inside of her mouth.

            "This is so good. I can eat this every day."  Maggie said.

            Lea thrust the large spoon into the center of the trifle dish.  She scooped up a large mound of the dessert and she lowered it into her plate.  She placed the spoon onto the counter and she removed her plate from the table.   She grabbed a fork from the counter and she dipped the utensil within the sugar-laced pile of dessert. She raised the golden fork to her lips and she shoved a large heap of the sweet into her mouth.

            "This is delicious. I could eat this everyday too." Lea said.

            "I can really taste all of the candy bars and the chocolate."  Maggie said.

            "Me too. Chocolate is the best." Lea said.

            "It is." Maggie said.

            "What are the two of you doing?"  A shrill voice cried.

            Maggie and Lea looked up from their plates.  They stared across the brightly lit kitchen.

            A short white haired woman stood in the entrance of the room.  A pair of silver glasses adorned her heavily wrinkled face. 

            She held a shining black cane in her left hand.  She glared at Maggie and Lea with an expression of contempt.  She raised her left hand and she struck the lower portion of her cane against the floor.

            A loud cracking noise filled the kitchen.

            Maggie and Lea jumped at the sudden noise.

            "I asked you what you were doing!" the old woman yelled.

            "Calm down, Mrs. Abbot.   We were just trying your trifle." Lea said.

            "Yeah, don't have a heart attack.  We were just giving it a little taste." Maggie said.

            Mrs. Abbot stared at the half empty glass jar of trifle that lay on the counter.  Her pale face flushed crimson.  She looked up from the glass jar and she stared at Maggie and Lea.

            "A taste!  You had more than a taste! It's all nearly gone!" Mrs. Abbot yelled.

            "No, there's still some left." Lea said.

            "Yeah, we didn't eat that much." Maggie said.

            Lea let out a loud burp.  She tossed the empty plate in her hands onto the marble counter in front of her. 

            Maggie licked her plate.  She threw the platter onto the counter with a low hiccup.

            "I don't believe this! You knew, both of you knew that I made this trifle for the monthly meeting for the Citywide Gardeners Society of which I am the assistant chair!  I spent a week gathering all of the ingredients and I spent half of the night making it.  Now, what am I supposed to do? The meeting is in an hour! That's not enough time to make another. The two of you are old enough to know better! I am very disappointed in the both of you!" Mrs. Abbot shouted.

            "Calm down Mrs. Abbot. Just go to the All Night Mart and pick up a lemon cake." Lea said.

            "Yes, and a tub of whipped cream." Maggie said.

            "How dare you even suggest that I take a...a store made dessert to the meeting. I'll have you know that my trifle is known all over for its deliciousness." Mrs. Abbot said with a huff.

            "Yes, it was delicious." Lea said.

            "Mrs. Abbot you're making a big deal out of a small thing." Maggie said.

            "A small thing? How dare you! All of the members of the distinguished Citywide Gardeners Society were expecting this dessert!" Mrs. About screamed.

            "Now let's be honest Mrs. Abbot. Making this dessert, as delicious as it was, was not that hard. What was in it? A couple of packs of candy bars, whipped cream, chocolate sauce and crumbled cookies all piled up in this big glass dish.  The recipe is easy. It's not rocket science, Mrs. Abbot.  It's just dessert. And an easy one too." Maggie said.

            "Yeah, that nice lady on the Food Channel makes these all the time. Her show is only thirty minutes with commercials so you should be able to make another one in less time than that." Lea said.

              Mrs. Abbot turned to Lea with an expression of fury. 

            The white haired woman raised her cane off of the floor and she shook the dark stick in Lea's direction.

            "I made it specific you see! Specific so that I knew that it would be safe from your.  Your snacking hands!"  Mrs. Abbott shouted.

            "What is she going on about?" Lea asked.

            "I don't know. But my stomach is starting to really hurt."  Maggie replied.

            Mrs. Abbot slammed her cane to the floor with an exhausted sigh.  She took a shuffling step forward.  She stopped near the counter.  She stared at Lea with a smile.

            "Like I said, Lea. I made the dessert very specific." Mrs. Abbot said.

            "What do you mean specific?" Maggie asked.

            Mrs. Abbot turned from Lea and she looked at Maggie.

            "You see, Maggie.   I made this dessert with almonds. Lots of crushed up almonds that you can barely see with all of the luscious whipped cream on top. I chose almonds because of their creamy flavor and also because I know that you're allergic." Mrs. Abbot said.

            Maggie grabbed her throat with a low cry.

            Mrs. Abbot released a chortling laugh.  She turned from Maggie and she stared at Lea.

            "And do not for one moment, Lea, think that I forgot about you when making this dish.  You see, I used lots of cherries too.  I made sure I chopped them well and good in the new food processor so that all you could see when you ate my dessert if you checked were the little red flecks near the center.  I used cherries because I know they give you hives." Mrs. Abbot said.

            "Those little red things were cherries?" Lea asked.

            "Yes, they were." Mrs. Abbot said with a nod.

            "I picked all those out.  They looked like little blood clots."  Lea said quickly.

            "Yeah, that's all well and good for you but I think I swallowed a lot of those almonds." Maggie said.

            Lea turned from Mrs. Abbott.  She looked at Maggie with concern.

            "I didn't know that you were allergic to almonds."  Lea said quickly.

            "Yeah.  My tongue feels funny." Maggie said.

            "Really? Funny how?" Lea asked.

            "Well, it feels like it's been cut. And my heart is beating fast. And my breaths. I can hardly breathe." Maggie whispered.

            "Wait, a minute Maggie.  Smile."  Lea said.

            "What?" Maggie asked.

            "Just do it." Lea said.

            Maggie looked at Lea with wide eyes just before she curved her lips into a smile.

            Lea stared at Maggie's lips.  She raised her hand and she reached inside of Maggie's mouth.  She moved her fingers against her upper lip and tugged at the top portion of her jaw.

            "Hey!" Maggie shouted.

            A loud popping noise filled the space just before Lea snatched her hand from the interior of Maggie's mouth.

            A set of yellow dentures were clutched in Lea's hand.

            Lea held up the set of false teeth.

            Several ragged white objects jutted from the front and sides of the dentures.

            "Look, Maggie you might be safe.  Most of the nuts got stuck in your dentures."  Lea said.

            "Oh, well how ‘bout dat?"  Maggie asked.

            Maggie shook her gray head with a light laugh.  Her giggle became a choke when she looked at Lea's face.

            Bright red welts appeared across Lea's lightly wrinkled face.

            "Hey Lea." Maggie began.

            "What?" Lea asked.

            "You're turning red." Maggie whispered.

            Lea raised her hand and she rubbed at her face.

            "Hives." Lea said softly.

            "They're spreading really fast." Maggie said.

            Lea lowered her hand from her face with a sigh. 

            "Oh, I'll be fine. They look worse than they actually feel." Lea said.

            Lea looked at the dentures in her hand.  She picked several nut shards from between the delicately spaced false teeth.

            "I don't know, Lea. Your neck and ears are turning red too." Maggie said.

            "I'll be fine. But I do need to get to a doctor.  And we should bring some of the trifle too." Lea said.     

            Lea looked up from the teeth in her hand.  She stared at Mrs. Abbot.

            "Now  Hilary, you knew that we were allergic to the foods you used in that dessert and you still made it and set it out for us to eat.  That makes you an attempted murderer." Lea said.

            "We're going to the cops and filing a report." Maggie said.

            Mrs. Abbot hobbled to the counter. She raised her gnarled hand and she snatched the trifle from the table.  She threw the glass jar onto the floor.

            The sound of a loud crash filled the room.

            Lea and Maggie turned looked at the floor.

            The trifle lay in a pile of melting whipped cream, chocolate swirls, candy bits and broken glass in the middle of the floor.

            Hilary Abbott stared at the ladies in front of her with a smile.

            "Good luck proving it, ladies. Well I'm off."  Hilary said.

            Hilary let out a loud clucking noise before she turned around and shuffled from the room.

            "There's still a lot of trifle left on your dentures.  We can take it to the station and file our report." Lea said.

            "Yes, and maybe the police won't laugh at us this time.  Since we'll have real proof that our sister is trying to kill us." Maggie said.

            "I'll put your teeth in a glass." Lea said.

            Maggie released a low cough and she looked at the floor. She gazed at the trifle.

            "Wait, Lea." Maggie said.

            "What?" Lea asked.

            Maggie pointed at the floor.

            "Just get a plastic container and scoop some of that stuff in there.  And make sure you get some of the glass too. Her fingerprints should still be on it." Maggie said.

            "Okay." Lea said.

            "Maybe this time we can get her to leave the house  for good. Mother did leave it to us in the will after all."  Maggie said.

            "We used to be such good sisters.  But that was before she tried to poison us. Oh, I think I'll need some help getting on the floor to get some of that trifle."  Lea said.