It's 2023, & 2 elderly African American sisters, Vannie & Pattie were sitting on their Adirondack rocking chairs, rocking back & forth on a warm, winter day. They are both 86 years old, but are 11 months apart. Not twins. They're still able-bodied & in good health. Their speech is very articulate & proper. They are trying to achieve breaking the record for being the oldest women alive. They eat healthy & are very active. They work at Winn Dixie in the produce department, & have done so for decades. They love their jobs.
While the 2 sisters were rocking back & forth, they tried not to fall asleep. Pattie started the conversation, saying, "I surely would love to have me some pound cake right about now. My stomach is RUMBLING! I don't care. Just ANY flavor! But I'm REALLY in the mood for some peach cobbler pound cake."
Vannie responded, "Now you're talking! That would make my day! Don't get me drooling!"
Pattie sighed & closed her eyes, visualizing. Everything got silent, except for the chirping birds & the blowing wind.
Vannie laughed & asked Pattie, "Do you remember the pound cake lady? She SURELY was something else, now wasn't she?"
Pattie said, "What pound cake lady?"
Vannie said, "That White woman, Bella, who tried to pass off as Black. She had a curly perm & lied to people, saying that it was a Jheri Curl."
Pattie asked, "You mean that woman from back in the 70's who used to make all those different creative pound cakes?"
Vannie said, "Yes. That's the one. When the Jheri Curl first came out. Boy did that woman make some delicious, moist, flavorful pound cakes! I don't know where she got her ideas from. Do you think she's still alive?"
Pattie told her, "Last I heard, she was living at a convalescent center about a decade ago."
Vannie was like, "Oh, no! You know what they do to the elderly there. Murder them off for insurance & then cover it up. I'm glad our children weren't evil enough to put us there."
Pattie said, "Let's talk about those pound cakes, though. I don't want to get off topic, talking about anything negative or sad."
Pattie laughed again & said, "Well, don't feel bad. Do you remember people saying that we think we're White because of the way we talk?"
Vannie told her, "It used to hurt my feelings back then, but I quickly became used to it."
Pattie said it again, "Let's talk about those pound cakes!"
Vannie said, "What about them?"
Pattie reminisced. "Do you remember Bella making red velvet pound cakes? What about walnut brownie pound cakes? Girl, she even had an avocado pound cake!"
Vannie said, "She had some savory casseroles molded into pound cake, as well. Like her crawfish stuffing casserole pound cake. It was BOMB!"
Pattie punched her fists on the rocking chair arms & said, "If I could try that brownie pound cake & the crawfish stuffing casserole pound cake together..."
Vannie finished the sentence & said, "That's as close to heaven that we could get, while here on this Earth & still alive. Look! Now you have ME wanting to cheat my diet!"
The ice cream truck came strolling down the street. It so happened to be Bella's biracial granddaughter, Jamesha. 1/2 Black & 1/2 White. Jamesha told the 2 sisters that her Puerto Rican husband, Eddie, runs a food truck business with all of Bella's pound cakes.
The rest was HISTORY!
THE END