THE FIRST and last Davis family barbecue lasted a grand total of forty-seven minutes. This time did not include the preparation of the meats and side dishes. In that case, it would have been three hours and three minutes.  If the total included the time it took for all four Davis siblings and their respective families to get dressed, get out the door, and drive to Andrew Davis Seniors’s house, the time would have increased to three hours and fifty-eight minutes, with twenty-nine of those belonging to Angela Davis and her numerous outfit changes to find the perfect ensemble for the occasion.

In the week leading up to the barbecue,  news stations were adamant about the dangers of an approaching storm. Yet it just so happened that every member of the Davis family  never paid much mind to the news due to what they considered an “untrustworthy reputation.” As it turns out, this reputation did not extend to just the weather. 

When the storm did hit, the twenty-mile radius where the various members of the Davis family resided was met with extensive damage. But it  wasn’t the blocked-off roads caused by fallen trees or the dents in the roofs of cars caused by golf ball-sized hail that did the Davis family in—it was the power outage. 

It may be surprising for most people to find out that before the storm, Andrew Davis Senior and his (very adult) children hadn’t gotten together as a family in a little over three years. This notion is made even more surprising when considering that they all still lived within thirty minutes of each other.

Over the years, it was quite possible that the Davis family could have come  together. That is, of course, if any of the children had felt even an iota of guilt for evading, which they never did. Each  child of the Davis household had their own list of excuses for their lack of familial celebration. Andrew Davis Junior, for example, was often credited to his “jam-packed” work schedule. James and Robert Davis frequently shifted the blame to their wives’ side of the family, while Susan Davis was successfully elusive under the pretense of a reoccurring ailment. 

Every time the Davis children would routinely deliver the “sorry, I can’t make it” news over the phone, their father, Andrew Davis Senior, would deliver his monotonous retort: “That is fine (insert child’s name). I understand. Happy (insert holiday or occasion).” 

Their father’s  response seemed to have absolved all the Davis children of their guilt. The colorless response of their father seemed, to his children, devoid of any disappointment. But rather simply, Andrew Davis Senior had never been a man of colorful responses. 

Three days after the storm, James Davis was sitting on his favorite leather chair in his living room when he concocted the idea of the Davis family barbecue. He had spent the last two days marinating in a combination of non-air-conditioned muggy July heat and nagging of all three members of the house: wife, son, and daughter, when he decided he finally had enough.

It was common knowledge to the adult children of Andrew Davis Senior that their father was in possession of a generator. And considering that the county was in no rush to restore power anytime soon, James  had decided in setting his sights on the machinery. .

But James found there was a problem in simply asking for it. . He for one hadn’t seen his father in three years and didn’t want to make it look as though he was simply using him . This was  where the idea of the barbecue came in . If James could see his father under the guise of a family get-together, he was sure to  look less slimy and more so like a well-meaning son when he asked for the generator.

James called his younger brother Robert first. James relayed to Rob that the power outage had gotten him thinking about how the whole family hadn’t been together in quite some time. He  went on about how it would be beneficial for everyone to get out of the house and share a meal together. 

As it turns out, Robert didn’t need much convincing, seeing as he was in a very similar situation to James: two nagging kids, a nagging wife, and an unusable air conditioner. 

Next James called his older brother, Junior. He was easy enough to convince at the mention of a free meal.

“Can I bring my dog?” Junior asked over the phone. 

“I don’t care.” Was James’s blunt reply.

James assumed the hardest of his siblings to persuade would be his sister. She  never made an effort to maintain a relationship with any man, not even one with her husband. Growing up, there were few instances  when she wasn’t picking a fight with their dad. But to James’s surprise, after giving her the same spiel he gave the other two, Susan was quick to agree. 

Finally, all that was left was his father. James readjusted his legs, revealing pools of sweat that had collected onto his seat. Now, very aware that he was hot, sticky, and uncomfortable, James reached for the phone to call his dad. 

James’s finger hovered over his dad’s contact with anxiety akin to a person hovering over the big red button that initiated a world war. Pressing the button, the phone began to ring, and with each reverberation, James could feel himself grow hotter. After the third or fourth ring, his father answered. 

“Hello?” A  voice rasped.

“Hello, Dad. It’s James.”

“Oh. Hello James, to what do I owe the pleasure?” 

“Well Dad, I’ll cut to the chase. I know this is out of the blue, but I was on the phone with Junior, Rob, and Sue and we started talking about how we haven’t seen each other in a while. And with the power out we were all thinking what a perfect time it would be for all of us, you know, to get together. And I guess have dinner or something. Maybe like a barbecue.” But by the time James was done rambling, he felt lightheaded. This was only made worse by the silence on the other line. “Hello, Dad? You there?” 

“Yes, I am,” Senior said flatly. The truth was Senior was having trouble containing his excitement.

“Okay, so what do you think?”

“When.” 

“Oh gosh, the sooner the better honestly. I wouldn't want this opportunity to be passed up,” James said, voice dripping with sincerity as best he could.

“Where would this be?” 

“Well, I don’t know about your yard, but mine was completely wrecked during the storm and I’ve been so busy I haven’t had the chance to clean it yet,” James said, knowing full well his father always kept his yard in pristine condition regardless of the season, often spending more time caring for it than he did his own children.

“Okay,” a long pause on the other end. “Does tonight at seven work?”

“Yes, that’s perfect!” James said, summoning his most enthused voice. 

 “I’ll let the others know! I’ll see you then! Can’t wait!”

“Okay, goodbye.”

James shot out a text to his siblings informing them of the dinner plans. He  let out a sigh as he sat back in his chair, admiring his work. Later tonight he would finally go back to some semblance of normalcy: sitting in his chair without having to worry about his thighs sticking to the leather. 

It is unlikely, however, that James would have felt the same relief if he knew that his siblings were not dense enough to forget about the existence of their father’s generator as well. All four of the Davis siblings were relaxing similarly under the impression that they were to be the ones who would be getting their hands on the generator. At that very same moment, Andrew Davis Senior began to excitedly write down a grocery list for the store two towns over where they still had power.

When Senior returned from the store, he got to work preparing what he hoped would be the first of many family barbecues. While setting aside the ingredients for the more classic sides of pasta salad and roasted corn, Senior began preparing the star of the show, the lamb chops. Splurging on such frivolous food items was out of character for Senior, but the excitement of the day had the old man in its grasp. 

Just as Senior put the first lamp chops on the grill, the first and oldest of his children arrived. Andrew Davis Junior was the shortest of his siblings but also the thickest. When Junior exited his truck and was followed by a dirty yellow Labrador, Senior was shocked, to say the least. 

Growing up, the Davis children had always wanted a dog, but Senior always refused, not because he hated dogs, but because his wife Norah was allergic.  

Senior married Norah Johnson the day after their high school graduation. To many, high school sweethearts is an expression usually given to two people who, like Senior and Norah, were together from a young age. However, it also implies that the pair themselves are sweethearts. This sentiment would not be used by the masses to describe this particular couple.

The pair were utilitarian by nature. Norah and Senior were practical people, doing everything with a purpose. They didn’t waste time on things that had no immediate benefit. The nature of Norah and Seniors' relationship would seem, to most, loveless. But that was quite possibly the farthest thing from the truth. The two loved each other as extensions of themselves. They were a team determined to conquer the pursuits of their lives together. Pragmatism was just their preferred method. 

But no matter how practical Norah and Andrew Davis Senior tended  to be, they had one notable flaw: parenthood. From a young age, their children had sensed  a certain strangeness in their parents. While Norah and Andrew loved their children  deeply, they struggled to express that love. Each day, they dedicated themselves to teaching their children how to lead practical lives. Yet  no matter how many lessons they imparted, the children  couldn’t seem to grasp their parents' intentions. They would often wonder why their parents spent so much time teaching them how to live practically when they could have played catch with them in the yard or goofed around with them at the dinner table. 

Before Andrew Davis Senior had a moment to grapple with this newfound wave of grief, then came the  arrival of James and Robert. 

It was customary for the two to arrive together; Robert and James were the closest in age than any of the other Davis siblings.  As the two men matured, they could have been mistaken for twins, besides the fact that James favored his father in looks with his wide nose bridge and hooked nostrils, while Robert favored his mother with a more unassuming nose and an assumingly large forehead. 

Robert had arrived with his wife, Angela, and their twin sons, Derek and Daniel. Most people would deem Robert and Angela’s marriage standard; they appeared to be the quintessential American family.   Robert’s wife Angela always tried her hardest to look as put together as possible with her extensive wardrobe,  an absurd amount of designer brands that made no difference to the folks of the suburbs . Robert’s children on the other hand  had their noses so buried in their tablets, they only lifted their heads  briefly during their arrival to nod at their grandfather.

James had entered much like his brother, though it seemed he had raised his family to a higher standard of decorum. He, his wife Jessica, and their children, Matt and Bell, all came bearing some sort of food offering to add to Senior’s barbecue selections. They made a point of greeting the other Davis’ with warm, extended hugs. James had nearly convinced his entire family of his sophistication until he noticed that the lights in his father’s house were off. Unable to help himself, he asked where the generator was, having been at his father’s house only for less than a minute.

The question raised immediate suspicion from Junior and Robert who had both come prepared with their own schemes to claim the  generator. All  three brothers  began to eye  each other with looks  of  uncertainty . Meanwhile, Senior regarded his son with confusion, having misheard James; he thought his son might have lost his grip on reality, believing he had asked about the location of his alligator. This tension was halted however at the arrival of Susan. 

Susan was the last to arrive with her son Zephyr. Whenever Susan Davis appeared at an event, it was not without attracting everyone’s immediate attention within the vicinity she approached upon. What was most notable about her  today was the splotchy purple dye in her hair. 

 It was clear to Senior by this point that his children and  grandchildren  were all unrecognizable to him. Taking in her colored hair, Senior thought back on how  Susan was always considered the eccentric child and by default the hardest to raise. She always wanted to be different; whether it was dressing in clothes he thought looked tacky or  bickering often  at the dinner table during her teenage years. Despite that, Senior always believed that she would grow into a remarkable  woman. 

Susan’s son Zephyr, whose name meant “gentle breeze,” looked as though he were anything but. The boy was sixteen years old, six foot four inches, and weighed in at about three hundred pounds. The origin of Zephyr's strange  name was to Susan a way to get back at her father. 

When Susan was just starting high school, she demanded that the entire family began calling her by her new name, Nebula. Most of the family humored Susan all except for Senior. Confused by Susan’s nonsense, Senior had simply refused , seeing as he named her after his late Mother. After about a month Susan had given up on the idea, yet still harbored a grudge. 

Years later, when the time came for Susan to name her newborn son, she thought what a way it would be to get back at her dad than to name her son something he disapproved of. Unfortunately for Susan, Senior had long forgotten about the issue and assumed that his odd daughter had simply chosen an odd name for her son. 

With the entire Davis family now together for the first time in over a decade, one might assume that a feeling of wholeness would begin  to envelop  Senior. Instead,he began   to feel a sensation  akin to  uneasiness. After about thirty minutes the mumblings of quiet conversations and lulled chewing had slowed to such a point that it gave Senior the courage to look up at his family from his place at the grill. It was there he thought he saw that  same uneasiness plaguing  both young and old members of the Davis Family. 

Senior, in all his innocence, assumed that this uneasiness stemmed from the void of conversation. So, in an effort to sway discussion, he asked the first thing on his mind. 

“James, what was that thing you were asking about? Where my alligator was?” It was at that moment every Davis member looked up with the utmost confusion. Even Robert’s twins had picked their heads up to look at Senior.

“Dad, what are you talking about?” James said in a half-laughing, half-condescending tone.

“You know, my alligator. The one you asked me about when you first showed up.” Senior said  defensively, that  wave of unease seeming to rush over him now . James looked at his father confused and began to rack his brain with what he could be implying when he remembered why he was there. 

“Ohhh. Are you talking about when I asked where your generator was?” 

Senior, happy to oblige in his son’s pointed question,  began to explain to his children that the generator was still in the shed. And how due to his age and slight pain he was beginning to develop in his lower back,  he was unable to retrieve it after the storm. So,  he had decided to keep on with his life without power for the time being. 

This story seemed to have the full undivided attention of his children, and this made Senior leave all the uneasiness behind. Senior was, for the first time in years since the passing of Norah,  happy. At that  moment, Senior imagined the tradition of the barbecue continuing,  sharing more and more of his life with his children, and maybe even one day  telling  his kids how he and their mother had met. 

Brought back down from reality, Senior began to tell them of the time he and his older brother had gotten caught stealing their neighbor’s goat when he was cut off by James asking where exactly in the shed  the generator was located. 

And just as fast as Senior told his children, the four of them rushed off down the slight slope of the yard, nudging and bumping into each other until they reached the shed. This act by his children lifted his spirits even further. His kids had come to his rescue, ready to help him get the power back on in his house.  

It took the combined power of the four Davis siblings to drag the generator back up the yard and place it dead center of the family’s barbecue congregation. But what every member of the Davis family had failed to notice was the trail of gasoline that leaked from the generator in their haste coming back up . With the four adults now wiping sweat from their brows and breathing heavily, they exchanged cautious glances. And then it happened. 

In the blink of an eye, one of the boys, James or maybe Robert, reached for the generator. And then the struggle ensued. Robert or James tried to pull off the other which soon became a tangle of flying limbs . Junior jumped in the mess trying to pull the generator towards his car. Seeing this, Susan jumped on his back, stopping him in his tracks. The shouts started hurling out  from all angles, to where even the grandchildren began to chime in, The only discernible  sound Senior could make out from the mess was the worried barking of General. 

In the mess of Davis  limbs, the body of Susan made its way into Senior’s path,  knocking him swiftly and directly into the grill, which knocked  out its contents into the yard. The hot charcoal  that escaped the grill sparked the generator's trail of gasoline. The grass of Senior’s  lawn caught on to this trend, and soon the flame's affliction had begun to spread. Before Senior knew it, his lawn was on fire.  

After a few minutes of Andrew Davis Senior hobbling around with a water bucket to save what he could out of his yard,  he noticed the state of the fallen items of food he had spent so much effort preparing. Senior was so paralyzed by the mess that was now in his yard that he was sure  he would be engulfed by the minuscule flames that still flickered in his lawn. It was because of this distraction that Senior was unable to see any of his children and grandchildren leave. Senior would also never find out which subsection of his family had made off with his generator. 

When the literal and metaphorical smoke cleared, Senior turned and found Susan’s son Zephyr standing  dumbly from where the congregation once was. His mom had forgotten him in the mess of things and by some miracle, Senior  wasn’t the only one left behind.