39 Grandmother to the rescue

At Lina's house...

Lina fished out an old T-shirt from the bottom of the laundry bin, and braced for the mess. She sat at the dining table and kicked off her pomegranate de-seeding journey.

Half an hour later, she sat dejected, with all the pomegranates scattered on the table. Some were half open, while some were in pieces. There was a lot of splatter everywhere. The seeds were stuck behind the bitter-tasting white membrane, and as Lina, tried to pull them out with her fingers, it resulted in a huge mess. Entire dining table was a terrible mess.

"Aaaarghh!" yelled Lina in frustration.

Olivia stood at a side as she observed her elder sister, who was de-seeding the pomegranates- that felt like a puzzle game 'à la Bejeweled' (Gotta release all those little red gems!). Despite trying various techniques—the segmenting method, the spoon beating method, the Martha method—Lina ended up with a very low score. Seeds were crushed or left behind. And worse: Pomegranates flew across the room leaving the walls and the floor with red spots— game over.

"Girl! What the hell is this?" yelled grandmother as she saw the entire mess. "Did you just slaughter an animal on the table," she mocked.

Olivia chuckled. "Grandma, Lina is trying to extract the pomegranate seeds. This is for her job," laughed Olivia.

"I can't do this," sighed Lina as she cleaned her hands with a towel. "How is Bob feeling now?" Lina inquired.

"Bob is asleep. He won't get up any time soon. He's still all swollen up from all those beatings. I think he learnt his lesson well," sighed Grandmother.

"Thank God. His health is improving fast," said Lina as she continued to de-seed a pomegranate. "Aaargh! Why did God create such a complicated fruit?" yelled Lina.

"Huh! Lina, I don't know when will you learn to be a little patient," sighed grandmother. "Get up! Let me sit. I'll show you how to do it," ordered grandmother as she took a pomegranate in her hand.

Lina and Olivia watched with all their attention, as grandmother demonstrated the art of pomegranate de-seeding.

"Just remember the steps," instructed grandmother, as she began to de-seed the fruit. "Score the fruit around the midline. Cut deep enough to pierce the skin, but shallow enough that you don't cut into the seeds inside. Then, pull apart the two halves with your thumbs," explained grandmother as she pulled apart the two halves perfectly.

Lina and Olivia smiled at the perfection in which it was done.

Grandmother continued," Submerge the two halves in a bowl of water to soften the pith. Turn the half upside down and thwack the bejeezus out of it with the back of a spoon. Seeds will tumble out into your hand and the bowl of water. Then, scoop any floating pith out of the water with a sieve," instructed grandmother as she smiled and handed over the bowl of seeds to Lina. "Drain the water. and you have the pomegranate seeds, ready to eat!"

"Wow! Grandma, you are too good. I would love to learn some other things from you as well," laughed Lina. She could not be more impressed. "I'll get these pomegranate seeds in a bowl to serve. Tina will be here soon. I'll have these with her," smiled Lina as she walked in her high-heels, towards the kitchen, to get the crockery.

-------

Half an hour later..

Tina sat on a cane sofa, in the verandah at the backside of Lina's house, as she read a magazine that was placed on the table before her.

Her reading was soon interrupted by Lina, who walked towards the table in her high-heeled sandals, carrying a bowl of pomegranate seeds and some crockery, taking small baby steps to avoid a fall.

"Girl! For how many hours are you going to walk like that? chuckled Tina, as she stood up from her seat to help Lina carry the crockery.

"I don't know! I don't have much time left, and I'm still not used to wearing these footwear," sighed Lina, as she massaged her sides of the lower back and took a seat near Tina.

"Did you see the man yet?" asked Tina.

"No! I haven't seen him. I don't know anything about him. I have been thinking of asking for a picture of the man from Ning," shared Lina.

"Well! Do it now! You can ask her to send you the man's photo on your mobile. I think this is a very small.. and a genuine request," insisted Tina.

"Yes! But I feel embarrassed. Plus, this is a deal.. not a real marriage. That lady is hiding everything about that man.. as if, it's a big secret," sighed Lina as she ate some pomegranate seeds. "Anyways! I will get to know about the man very soon now. The training is almost over. The time is not far away.. when I'll see that man face to face," continued Lina.

"Hmm..! Hopefully, everything is going to be fine. You were so anxious before the start of the training. But, it did not turn out to be so bad, right?" asked Tina.

"Girl! You have no idea what I had to go through!" sighed Lina as she massaged her lower legs with her hands. "And you have no idea of what has been planned for me, for tomorrow," shuddered Lina.

"What is going to happen tomorrow?" asked Tina.

"That lady, Ning, is not happy with my present looks. She is taking me to some parlors to completely change the way I look," shared Lina.

Two of them sat in the verandah, eating perfectly extracted pomegranate seeds, as they thought about what is going to happen the next day.