second thought, now i knew things about it. i knew that you had to salt eggplant and then rinse it off, and i knew how it wrung out like a sponge when you squeezed it under the running water. i knew that one bay leaf was plenty and you needed to pick it out of the sauce before you ate. i knew that you could cook together and laugh and gossip and share a meal, and that a warm and spicy soup could leave an impression on your mind as well as your tongue.
i knew these things because of r and i desperately wanted to give something back to her. 