Cocina Criolla

The box was plain: simple cardboard, blank on all sides. It wasn’t especially big, and it wasn’t especially heavy. But it was just big and heavy enough that a prudent courier would have put it down to open building doors, to press call elevator buttons, and to hit numbers for the floor to her boyfriend's apartment.

Amy wasn’t always prudent, but she was stubborn, and she’ll have you know that she didn’t need to put the box down. You know what? Somebody was leaving the building when she got there. And you know what else? She was pretty good at hitting buttons with her elbow. She was an everything-in-one-trip kind of gal; she was particularly proud of the way she could wrangle house keys from tight jean pockets with arms full of groceries. So this, this was nothing.

The worst was on the train. The Kyoto subway system was packed for being the middle of the day. Finding an open seat was out of the question, so she ended up eating a lot of dirty looks for taking up so much space. Plus, heavy or not, carrying that box non-stop through doors, across crosswalks, and up and down stairs (ughh, stairs) would be taxing on anyone… But putting down her cargo, then bending over to pick it up again seemed like so much effort; it’s not like she had that far to go. Besides, she could do this; she could make it all the way to Army’s without taking a break.

And she did. Amy wore a self-satisfied smile on her face during the whole elevator ride up, the box nestled snugly between her arms and pressed firmly against her chest. Thank god for elevators. Prudence could go eat a dick; Amy had this handled.

The elevator doors opened, and Amy made her way down the corridor. Army wasn’t home today; she’d made sure of that before making her way over. But that was the easy part; the hard part was finding a time when Carmen was home, since it was Carmen’s expertise she sought. Amy hoped that she wasn’t being a bother, that she wasn’t interrupting some sort of essential unwinding time. Carmen kept herself very busy. She wasn’t just a pro-wrestler; she also owned and managed a small gym nearby. Pile on the shopping, cooking, and general housekeeping she did for herself and the giant man-child that Amy was currently dating, and Carmen had a very full plate. Amy had a lot of respect for Carmen, and really appreciated that Carmen had agreed to make the time for her.

Amy stopped in front of the Rodriguez’ door. She was here. One last hurdle; she lifted one foot and quickly shot two low, sharp kicks into the door. Knock knock.

Carmen sat on her bed, legs crossed, eyes forward. Her bedroom was dark, save for a few slivers of light escaping through the blinds. With Army out for the day at a Yu Gi Oh! tournament, it was one of the rare times when the apartment was all hers, and she had all the peace and quiet she could want. No videogames, no punching bags getting pounded, no weight bars being slammed.

It was just her, herself, and the 24/7 Title lying in front of her.

It was still surreal to think she was, essentially, the Tension Hardcore champion. Maybe because it had literally came out of nowhere - when she'd woken up that morning, she did not expect that a pair of midgets and King would break into her gym and challenge her to a fight. Or maybe it was because the idea of being a hardcore champion wasn't something she'd ever planned on. Not that she had any problems with that sort of wrestling. She'd dipped into it a little with Lorenza Saldano half a year ago, and now it seemed she would be plunging into the deep end.

She held up the belt and looked it over for what had to be the 100th time since she'd won it, and that was when the realization really sunk in. She'd fought her whole life just to get the chance to challenge for a belt, and all of the sudden it had been thrown into her lap. No buildup. No massive confrontation. In the end, it all came down to stupid luck.

Carmen sighed and ran a hand through her hair as she thought about all the trouble that would be coming from this. It wasn't even like the other belts. No, every moment of every day, she could have someone challenge her for the 24/7. At first, she didn't think it would be a problem...and then some random fan challenged her to a match while she was shopping for groceries. Big guy, overweight but with plenty of muscle to drag all that flab around. He didn't seem to comprehend the fact that he needed a referee to make it an official match, and she wound up taking him on, anyway.

Carmen won that fight, with only a black eye for all the trouble. Not too bad, but had a bad feeling it wouldn't be the last headache of that nature, and it made her wonder if the belt was worth it. She wanted it to be. She needed it to be. She'd craved to be a champion.

Just...not quite like this.

With all this crap swirling around in her head, Carmen was overjoyed when Amy had called and said she was coming over. She'd wanted to spend some time with the girl who'd tamed her brother, and if there was ever a day she could use the distraction, this was it. Carmen had been so busy lately that she hadn't had the chance to really get to know Amy as well as she would've liked. Army talked about her all the time, and the picture she painted was one of a strong girl. Bright. Energetic. Vibrant. Fiesty. Strong. The perfect match for him, and from the way he  made it sound, she'd be a long term part of their lives. He wanted her to be.

The idea of her brother settling down and not sleeping with every other girl in Tension and having someone to keep him from doing stupid things when she wasn't around greatly appealed to Carmen. So, yes, she wanted to make sure Amy was as comfortable as possible.

Carmen jumped a bit at the sharp knocks from her door, hitting a bit harder than she would've expected from a pair of soft hands.She jumped bounced out of bed and sauntered out across the room, her bare feet pattered along the plush carpet as she moved. She was dressed casual for the occasion - just her white and blue Red Bull t-shirt and a pair of short jeans. This was one of the few occasions she had that allowed for her to not dress up these days, and she was going to get the most out of it.

She laid the 24/7 belt on the sofa and hopped on over to the door, promptly opening it to reveal Amy...and a box. A rather large box. Amy hadn't mentioned the box over the texts. Come to think of it, she hadn't mentioned much at all, aside from spending some time together. Interesting.

"Amy, hey!" Carmen reached out and tried to take the box away, bring it inside and let her potential sister-in-law rest those arms. "What's all this?"

Amy let Carmen lift the box from her hands, and she gratefully went to rubbing the feeling back into her limbs as she stepped into the apartment.

“Hey, Carmen! Thanks. Ow.” Dozens of tiny little pinpricks lit up her forearms as her blood resumed normal circulation. But she was here; she made it. She straightened back up and nodded at the freight. “That? That’s a present, and it’s for the kitchen. You can look inside if you want; I’m gonna go clean up in the bathroom real quick.” She could feel her bangs sticking to her forehead, and probably wouldn’t have said no to a quick shower. But she did come here with a purpose. She hurried to the restroom and freshened up as quickly as she could so that she could get to business.

On her way back, though, something caught her eye, and briefly derailed her focus. “Whoaaa… what’s that?”

Carmen raised an eyebrow at the 'present', but shrugged and took it into the kitchen anyway, figuring it must be something exceptional if Amy would go through all the trouble hauling it up to their apartment. And, wonder of wonders, she turned out to be exactly right - the little spitfire had brought her all the best goods.

"Army, you picked a winner..." She started to sift through all of the foodstuffs with one hand - pique mi madre, mojo criolla marinade, sofrito, and a bunch of other things you couldn't find in any store on this side of the planet. Carmen knew from experience how hard getting a hold of this sort of stuff was, and Amy had a whole boxful. She had to have been at this for weeks. At least.

Her other hand immediately went to the stove and started to heat it up. She was cooking. Right now. No question.

"Where did you even-" Carmen started to call back when Amy's exclamation interrupted her. She couldn't see what she was talking about, but she could make a pretty good guess. "That is the 24/7 Belt. Won it recently. Sort of. Really, really weird story."

“Oh.” Amy studied the artifact on Carmen's couch a little more closely. There was a 24/7 belt? “Do you mind if I touch it?”

Carmen paused and peeked out of the kitchen with a raised eyebrow. She chuckled at the sight, then bobbed back."Yes, chica, you can touch it." She continued to rifle through the box of goodies. "It's a title belt, not the Ark of the Covenant."

Amy needed no further encouragement. She picked the belt up. It was unexpectedly warm, and- “Oh wow, it’s heavy,” Amy mused absentmindedly. She took a moment to peer into the gaudy gold medallion in the center. Then she turned it around and raised it above her head. “Raar.” she roared softly to an imaginary audience. Then she dropped it back onto the couch. Nope, nothing.

She traced Carmen’s voice to the kitchen, where Carmen had already gone ahead and lit the stove. Amy smiled, pleased. She hopped onto a counter where she could watch Carmen work. "So that: Army mentioned that you liked cooking. He also said that it was hard finding the right ingredients in Japan, so the food didn't taste quite right." 'Weaker,' was the word he'd used. And 'bland.' "So when I started looking for a thank-you gift for you for fixing Nathan, I jumped on Wikipedia and ordered everything on the "Puerto Rican Cuisine" page." Amy reached into the box and pulled out a bottle of pique criollo for inspection. "I wanted to get some plants and peppers and stuff, too, but I guess they're pretty strict on what they'll allow into the island."

Carmen somehow doubted that Army was that diplomatic when he described the food, here. For the first few months, getting him to eat out was a chore, and he refused to eat just about anything he couldn't pronounce, which only left a small list to choose from. Their mother always spoiled him.

"Yes, well, you-" Carmen turned to Amy and frowned, then reached for a spatula off to the side. She gave the petite blonde a light slap on the thigh, shoeing her off the counter. "First rule of the kitchen: we keep it clean. Butts in seats and nowhere else."

Some of her mother's tone slipped out for a moment, but there was no helping it. She let her serious expression ligthen up, as she went back to prepping things. She'd been joking with Amy. Halfway, at least. "And thanks, Amy, you're a godsend. Seriously." She popped open the mirande and took a few whiffs. "Getting the homegrown stuff is hard, yeah. I know a few places. This is more than enough for now, though."

Carmen squatted and opened a cabinet, where she started to shift around a few pots and pans, looking for something just the right size. "What do you have a taste for?

Amy slid off the counter with a guilty laugh. “Ack! Okay, sorry, sorry.” She retreated around behind Carmen and took up a post on the other side, still thrilled by Carmen’s unbridled enthusiasm for Amy’s gift. Mentally, she gave herself a punch in her shoulder. You did good, kid.

“I’m not really sure,” Amy leaned back against the refrigerator. “I never really had Puerto Rican food before coming to Japan.” That was a weird sort of sentence. “To be honest, I was hoping to learn a bit of cooking from you, because I'm awful at it; it’s kind of why I wanted to come over today. If I’m going to be sticking around for as long as I’m planning, it’s probably a good idea to learn how to feed myself without going out all the time." Amy made a show of thinking about it. “Is there something simple you can show me?” Amy cocked her head. “Maybe something Army likes?”

When Amy said that she wanted to learn how to cook, Carmen felt a giant swell of pride run through her veins. She let out a deep sigh and looked over at the ingredient lovingly. "Mama," She whispered under her breath. "I've got one."

Carmen came back to reality and looked over her shoulder at Amy. "Well, that won't do. You might be a Mrs. Rodriguez someday, so cooking is a must." She kept her tone just light enough that you couldn't tell if she was joking.

She stepped back and stared up at the ceiling with folded arms, thinking for a few seconds to some of the first meals she'd ever cooked. Looking over her mother's shoulder, taking notes, memorizing the steps, taking in the smells. Her first meal was burnt that Carmen couldn't even remember what it was supposed to be, but she kept at it. She improved.

"Sofrito." She held up a finger. "The staple food of any good Puerto Rican household, and a frequent visitor to Army's stomach. He'll like it. Though, really, he likes you, so he'll like anything you make. But we'll do good, all the same."