The Gingersnap Legacy

“Hello?” I said, timidly. I don’t know exactly why I was so afraid to talk to my little sister.

“What do you want?” Ruby said roughly.

Ah. That’s why.

“Nothing. I just wanted to make sure you were okay. We haven’t talked in a while, that’s all.” I replied.

Ruby laughed, “Are you mad at me or something?”

I pursed my lips, “Well, I mean, what do you think?”

“Don’t ask me those kinds of questions, please, they pop me off.” 

I flopped onto my couch, “Yes, your highness.”

Ruby groaned, “Seriously! If you are angry at me, let’s talk about it. We haven’t talked in a while, as you said.”

“Why are you mad anyways? It’s not like I did anything wrong?” 

There was no response.

I continued, “I know this is completely irrational, but I’m still mad at you for not coming to the funeral.” 

Ruby exhaled, “Ah, still hooked up on the funeral.”

“You’re not a seven year old girl anymore! It’s disrespectful and immature of you not to come to our father’s funeral!” I yelled. 

“Why would I go to his funeral? All his life he just yelled at me and restrained me.” She snapped.

“He was being strict. And it’s because he cared about you.” 

“Well then, why wasn’t he ever strict to you? He never even bothered to ask me how my day was going. He didn’t tuck me in. He didn’t let me go play with my friends after school, for God’s sake.” 

“That’s ‘cause all of your friends looked like mini Harley Quinns (c) except with more pierces.”  

Ruby gasped, exasperated, “You know how bad a place I was, when I was living with you and Dad? That’s why I had to run away. Because whenever I’d try to talk about it with Dad, he would ignore me.”

I could’ve heard a pin drop.

A knot had formed in my throat, a knot which was depriving me of air every time I tried to speak. I grabbed some water, drinking a few sips, and feeling a little bit better. But the feeling still lingered.

“You know how much that rattled us? It scarred me. It broke Dad. And right after Mom passed, what was that timing?” I said, a tear rolling down my cheek.

Ruby sighed, “It had to be done. I would not be in the state I am today if I had stayed in that household while being in college. And I mean, it’s a normal thing for kids to move out of their parents house while going to university. But I didn’t get to. Because he didn’t trust me. That was why I had to run. Trust, that was the root of it all, the root of all of our problems. If only he had trusted me.” 

Her voice broke. She was crying. Suddenly, I felt incredibly bad for her.

“Listen… what you did wasn’t okay. You shouldn’t have ran away. Or if you had to run away, you could’ve done it in a better way. And you have to admit, it was irresponsible of you. But I don’t like torturing you… and now that we’ve talked, let’s not dwell on this anymore.” I said, suddenly feeling strong.

I could hear Ruby laugh quietly, “Thank you.”

There was silence for a minute.

“Do you want to maybe… meet up? I haven’t seen you in a while. It could be fun. You know, make-up for the sister bonding that we never got to do. It is the holiday season, after all. Would you like to come to my house tomorrow?”

Without checking my schedule, I eagerly replied, “Yeah! Y- yeah, that sounds great!”

“Great, I’ll email you my address. See you soon!” Ruby said, hanging up. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I quickly got into a turquoise turtleneck and jeans. I put on a festive beanie to top it all off. Ruby and I’s styles were quite different. I had inherited my mother’s style, which mostly consisted of turtlenecks, jeans, and fuzzy boots. Ruby… inherited her friend’s style. Fishnet stockings. Pierces. Dyed hair. I didn’t approve, but she didn’t give anything for what I approved and what I didn’t. 

I nervously got in the car, turning on the GPS. I entered the address she had texted me, only to notice that it was closer than I thought. I’d never been into her house. She’d never invited me, after all. 

I started the car, the roads icy. My hands usually clammed up in the winter, but they were actually sweaty at this time. I got there quickly, slamming the car door. What I saw was totally unexpected. The house was large. It seemed fairly new and modern. I knew my sister had gotten a job, but to my embarrassment, I didn’t exactly expect it to be very well-paying. 

I nervously knocked on the door. It swung open.

There she was. She was different from the last time I saw her. Her hair had dark purple highlights, braided into a French plait. She was wearing much less make-up. She was wearing a plaid shirt and jeans, and fuzzy slippers. 

“Hey-” She said smiling, “Come on in…”

I could tell this was hard for her. She hadn’t seen me in a long time. She didn’t know what to expect. I had to do my best to make this seem… more natural. However, I could only contain myself to a certain extent.

“Ruby-” I said, my eyes full of tears, “You look just like Mom.” I gave her a hug, embracing her warmth.

She smiled, “T- thank you.”

We laughed, heading into the kitchen. There was a man. A tall man, with smooth blonde hair. He smiled, charmingly.

“You must be Rachel. Rubes tells me all about you. I’m Oliver.” He said, shaking my hand, “I’ll be off now. Have fun!”

He walked out the door, and I bit my lip.

“Well?” Ruby asked.

I put my arms on my hips, “What?”

Ruby chuckled, “What do you think… of him?”

“He’s British…” I said, smiling while giving her a shrug.

She laughed, shaking her head, as I continued, “No but seriously, he seems really nice.”

“That means a lot to me.” She said.

Quickly shrugging whatever emotions she was experiencing off, she grabbed a bag of flour.

“What’s that for?” I asked curiously.

Ruby grinned mischievously, “Well, you know back when we were little kids, and Grandpa used to come over for Christmas?”

I nodded slowly. I couldn’t help but giggle. There were so many memories there. How Grandpa used to give us little chef hats and call himself Mr. Gingersnap. How he would hide bags of cookies in our backpacks with a winky face and a Mr. Gingersnap signature. 

“Well, remember those signature gingersnap cookies she would make? I was thinking we could make some of those…” She sounded unsure.

I gasped lightly, “That’s an amazing idea!”

“Great, let’s start.”

We didn’t know the recipe. It was a while back, and we didn’t know about the measurements. But the taste… the taste still lingered in our mouths. The hot gingersnap cookies that we would steal from the baking tray, that would burn our tongues. The one thing that symbolized the holidays for us in one bite. 

We started out with flour, baking soda, cinnamon, and salt. Again, we didn’t know the measurements, so we just added in how much we thought would be good. Then we put some shortening in a bowl, whipping it. We used the method Grandpa taught us, trying not to make any mistakes. We beat in some eggs, and added some molasses. Then, we mixed everything together, tasting it frequently. And lastly, we rolled the dough into balls and dipped them in cinnamon. And of course, we didn’t forget the secret ingredient. The dough tasted amazing, so we popped it into the oven. 

We then proceeded to wait and pace around the room anxiously for ten minutes. Not a word was said. Until we smelt it. Smelt the sugary, cinnamon-y cookies that we grew up with.

“Holy… they’re ready!” Ruby said, eagerly taking them out of the oven. 

As we did as toddlers, we picked them up, and both took a bite. 

The best cookie that we’d ever tasted had entered our mouths.

It wasn’t the same as Grandpa’s, but it tasted similar. Similar, but different enough for it to taste better.

“Ruby…” I said, “I think we’ve carried on the gingersnap legacy.”

After that day, Ruby and I’s relationship didn’t automatically change. It had improved, but it didn’t become perfect overnight. But we had shared an important memory together. A memory that we would never forget. And more importantly, we had created a new holiday tradition, and an extremely good cookie.