About Cardamom: A Taste of Home
by Winnie Jerome
69 pages / 19400 words
ISBN: 978-1-61040-119-7
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Tall, awkward college freshman Trevor is confused about a lot of things –
university life, being away from home for the first time, and where he
stands with Carter, his not quite boyfriend from high school. It's enough to
make him start pining for home.
Just when he thinks he's gained a foot up, a wrench is thrown in the works
in the form of hot neighbor Julian, who Trevor is attracted to, but is
straight. So now Trevor has to find the answers to every college student's
burning questions – "When did life become so complicated?", "Can I avoid
killing my roommate?", and "Is dining hall food really made out of
cardboard?"
Sample
They left Carter's room and walked together to the dining hall, making
small talk the entire way there. He noticed that Carter controlled most
of the conversation and directed the majority of questions to Brian.
That was to be expected -- Brian was the new one in the group, and since
he was Carter’s roomie, it made sense that the spotlight would be on
him.
Soon enough, Trevor reversed his decision. Brian was so sharp-minded,
quick on the draw, and well-spoken that Trevor was beginning to feel
pretty lame in comparison, and he stopped talking because he was
starting to feel left out. However, when they grabbed their trays for
dinner, Carter brushed a hand against Trevor's arm and smiled.
That perked Trevor up some. And he perked up more when he saw thehuge
tumblers for drinks. Those fuckers looked like they could hold a quart
of soda. He started heading toward the Coke and Sprite dispenser, but
then he realized that if he drank any, he would be burping up a storm
later. Giving Brian more fodder to tease him? No way was he going to do
that.
He filled his glass with orange juice instead and headed to the area
where they were serving hot food. Trevor had to do a double-take when he
saw the entrees -- there were formless lumps hidden under some sort of
thick, globby sauce brown sauce; something kind of meat-like that might
have been either pork or chicken, which was doused in a white goop with
coagulating yellow lumps; and a bell pepper stuffed with what looked
like a pile of granola cereal.
Ew. Everything looked gross, but he had to pick something. He waffled a
bit and then pointed at the Mystery Meat in Brown Sauce. The surly
worker behind the counter plopped some into Trevor's dish along with a
stiff white mass that looked like mashed potatoes. Trevor decided to
cover his butt in case the shit was rancid and grabbed some pudding.
Once he sat down, Carter pointed to Trevor's entree and said, "What the
fuck is that?"
"No clue," Trevor replied. He cut a lump open with his fork.
"Looks like pork," Brian said. "And I wouldn't eat the bottom half of
that – it looks like it came off of Lady Gaga’s meat dress."
"Ugh, you're right." Trevor cut off the good part and took a bite. The
meat was so dry that it stuck in his throat. "Yuck. I think I'll stick
to the mashed potatoes."
He tried to saw them open with his fork, but decided to give up when the
starchy heap crumbled apart. Carter and Brian had chosen the pepper and
they were trying their best to crunch their way through it, but judging
by their grimaces, their jaws were getting tired. The food was a fail,
but he could always eat his dessert.
"Are you sure you want to eat that?" Carter said.
"How can they fuck up pudding?"