Because Life Should Be Unruly

Cheap Tacos

In honor of #wattpadwednesday, a story that may be false or may be inconsequential frippery. 

Ted and I were best friends. We both hung out at the same bar. It was actually a Mexican restaurant, but we always sat at the bar. I liked the place because it was five minutes from my house, the tacos were cheap, and the bartender was a regular Joe with a heavy pouring hand. Still is, from what I understand. He left the place some time ago, or maybe I left first. It's been a while since I've seen Joe. 

Ted was a good friend of mine. We would exchange pleasant 'howsya life?' conversation, then he'd let me drink while I wrote prose on yellow, legal paper. I was a writer. Still am, from what I understand. I can still spell, which saves time, and I sit at the prettiest bay window overlooking the easement where the cardinals perch and sing, now that my bar is in the cabinet under the sink. 

My friend, Ted. He wore a shell necklace from the Florida Keys and teased me about my writing. He said I was losing touch with reality because I spent so much time in my head. Ted spent his time delivering snack items to grocery stores throughout the region, when he wasn't sitting at the bar teasing the Mexican waitresses. They liked his southern accent. I don't have a southern accent. I'm from the west where no one has an accent. Moving to the south didn't change that. 

That guy, Ted. He told stories that were far-fetched. He would embellish them because you expected him to. I wrote a few down because the best stories are embellished. I may have published one, but most of them are in a strongbox under my bed. I started hiding them in a strongbox under my bed to keep them safe. A person doesn't want to lose precious stories to thieves or fire or creeping vines with poisonous flowers.  

I liked Ted, until he learned Spanish and moved to a barstool closer to the waitress station. Heavy-pour Joe left sometime around then, and I took to drinking my Crown and Coke at home where the cardinals provide all the conversation I need. It's just as well. I never really liked tacos.