Chicken Bucket

"I'm home, grandma!" Lucas turned the key and opened the door.

This time, his grandma had already finished cooking their dinner and she sat on a chair that directly faced the front door.

Her hearing might not be the best anymore and she couldn't hear Lucas opening the door properly.

But when he opened the door and called her, Lucas' grandma quickly stood on her feet and went over to him.

"Lucas it's already 2 times in a row that you came home so late. Today is even worse than yesterday, what have you been doing?"

Lucas' grandma stared at her grandson with worry. Lucas was a hard worker, she knew that. And she couldn't even think of her grandson doing something even the slightest bit illegal.

She was just worried that Lucas got into some trouble that he couldn't solve.

"Don't worry grandma, I met an old friend today and we ended up talking for a long long time!"

Seeing that his explanation didn't seem to satisfy his grandma, Lucas brought up his hands instead.

"And I brought us chicken today! It will go well with the soup you cooked."

Seeing the bucket of chicken in Lucas' hands, Grandma just stared at it and didn't say a single thing.

Lucas didn't hope that she would be thanking him or being grateful to him when brought the chicken bucket, but it did make him wonder what she thought about.

Her face just stayed still as if she was deep in thought. And as a few seconds went on, Lucas even saw her eyebrows downcast.

"Come on grandma, let's eat!"

Lucas then helped his grandma to sit down before he went and grabbed the plates and rice.

He put the chicken bucket in the middle of the table and opened it, revealing the heavenly scent of golden-brown fried chickens. 

After grabbing the usual soup that Grandma made and putting it on the table for himself and his grandma, Lucas then urged his grandma to eat.

"Let's eat, grandma! I hope you like the chickens. They said it was a new menu and it's everyone's favorite."

"Yes…" Even with the mouth-watering chicken in front of her, Grandma ate the soup first, tasting the usual warm flavorful stock in her mouth.

As for Lucas, he didn't waste a single second and grabbed the drumstick out of the chicken bucket and bit into it.

The crunch of the crispy skin, the juicy meat insides, and the spicy seasoning of the chicken hit Lucas' mouth like a truck as Lucas chewed the chicken with his eyes closed.

It has been forever since Lucas ate any fast food fried chicken. It used to be a monthly thing before when his grandma was still fully healthy and was able to work all day.

But after her sickness, she could only work for half a day without being exhausted, which meant that she couldn't bring home as much money as before.

Starting from there, the vegetable soups were all that they ate every day. 

Lucas didn't complain a single time and he actually liked the soup since it still tastes good with the chicken broth. But he definitely would enjoy change every once in a while.

Lucas kept on biting and chewing the chicken, filling his mouth with flavor bombs that he balanced with the white rice.

It felt like heaven for him even though he was eating on the floor of a small one-room house.

He had excellent food, he had his grandma with him, and he could share the food with his grandma, what else was it other than heaven?

Thinking of this, Lucas finally stopped for a moment from enjoying his food to the fullest and took a good look at his grandma.

He hoped that he could make his grandma happy with the chicken bucket as it was also her favorite food before.

However, Lucas didn't expect a single bit that his grandma would hold onto a piece of chicken in her hand and stay still.

She didn't eat the chicken or put it on her plate.

She just held onto the chicken, looking at it with her eyes downcast.

"Grandma? Why aren't you eating your chicken?"

As soon as she heard Lucas' voice, she turned her eyes towards Lucas as a single tear came out of her eyes.

"Lucas… I'm sorry that I couldn't buy you chicken anymore this past year… You must have really really wanted to eat it…"

Her hands began trembling before she dropped the chicken out of her hand.

More tears flowed down as she couldn't help holding them back anymore.

"Grandma? Why are you crying? There's nothing to cry about. I do like chicken, but it's not like I don't like the food we eat every day. I like them, the food you cook is very tasty!"

As if not hearing what Lucas had said, Grandma kept on looking downward, crying, and said, "These 2 days you must have worked even more…That's why you came home so late…

You were even so tired that you woke up in the middle of the night…"

Lucas stared at his grandma, holding her hand with his other hand.

"Grandma… It's nothing like that. I really just went for a stroll yesterday and met an old friend today. She is a friend from when I still lived with Mom and Dad. You don't have to be worried about me."

Lucas tried convincing his grandma, but it fell on deaf ears again as his grandma was already caught in her own head. Thinking more and more of baleful thoughts.

"I'm sorry I couldn't give you a comfortable life like your parents did Lucas…

You have to go to work on your own… You even have to spend your hard-earned money on me…

I'm sorry Lucas… I'm sorry…"

Lucas was trying to think of more words to calm his grandma down, but he didn't know what to say or what to do.

This was the first time his grandma had a breakdown like this.

Suddenly, before Lucas could utter a single word out of his mouth, he saw his grandma stop crying.

"Grandma?"

His grandma couldn't give out a single response as both of her hands were clutching her chest.

The tears forcefully stopped flowing out as she struggled to breathe.

Her mouth opened and closed, gasping for air as she couldn't take in even a tiny bit of it.

"GRANDMA!"