I look over to Sharon, her arms crossed under her big, beautiful, bosom, waiting patiently for me to check out. I gotta make an impression on her.
“A normal person?” I scoff. “What about the handsome star pitcher of a leading minor league baseball team?”
“Oh, I don’t know. Someone would have to be pretty strong to handle the spice level in this.” Rosa scans the label on the taffy and pushes it toward me. “Two dollars.”
I pull two crisp dollar bills out of my wallet and slide them to her before taking the taffy and tearing open the red and pink striped wax paper.
“I’m not afraid of a little spice.” I wink at Sharon. “I’ll take everything you got.”
Rosa shakes her head and Sharon snorts as I toss the taffy in the air and catchit in my mouth. As soon as I start to chew, I know I’ve made a terrible mistake.
My scalp feels like it’s going to fly off. My nose starts to run. Tears stream from my eyes. I force my mouth to form the general shape of a smile as sweat leaks from every pore.
“Wow. It’s really good,” I say with air from lungs that feel like deflating balloons.
All of my muscles clench and my mouth starts to water uncontrollably. I manage to swallow much of the taffy, but I can’t get it all. It keeps burning and burning like a Molotov cocktail because it’s stuck in my teeth. My beautiful, expensive teeth.
I think I might puke.
“Wow, you’re really strong, Brock. I’m impressed. Now you can leave and get out of the disabled spot. Thanks,” Sharon says.
I wave as I back away, turn, then quickly exit. I can’t speak to say goodbye or I’ll hurl. I get in my car and speed away as fast as I can. It’s still burning when I get home. I drink a ton of milk and brush my teeth until I can feel something other than pain in my mouth again.
I sit in my chair and turn on the television to watch some baseball before bed. I think back to the events at the candy store and smile. I reach down and scratch Catcher on his head.
“She was impressed by my strength, Catcher. She even said it. We’ll be together in no time.”
