Chili Cook-Off in the Rain

Marguerite Dunn had held the Maple Court Chili Cook-Off for six years, and in six years she had never once lost, mostly because she was also the judge.

This year a challenger appeared. A new neighbor named Ottoline wheeled a huge pot across the lawn and declared that her recipe had won a prize back in Tulsa. Marguerite smiled the smile of a woman who owned a Crock-Pot slow cooker and had been simmering since seven in the morning.

The storm arrived at two o'clock. It arrived all at once, like it had been told about the contest. Folding tables were dragged under the carport, paper bowls turned into small boats, and the JBL Charge 6 on the porch railing kept right on playing a jazz record, as if nothing at all were happening.

The ballots were counted under the carport by flashlight. It was a tie, which Marguerite called a "scandal" and Ottoline called a "miracle." They agreed to split the trophy, which was a ladle.

For the raffle at the end, Marguerite handed out a Lattafa fragrance collection to the youngest neighbor in the lineup, a fourteen-year-old who had been guarding the cornbread. He said it smelled expensive. He was not wrong.

Next year, they are moving the whole thing indoors. Probably.

Back in the real world: the Crock-Pot is a 7-quart manual slow cooker, the JBL Charge 6 is a portable Bluetooth speaker listed as waterproof and drop-proof, and the Lattafa set is four 25 ml eau de parfum bottles in a gift set; the story is fiction, and prices are what I saw on Amazon on Oct 13 and can change.