Beans

It was a warm Sunday afternoon in the early nineteen thirties and Kenny felt a craving hunger for a bowl of chile beans. His favorite, Mexican chile beans, were sold for a dime a bowl at an outside hot dog stand near downtown Phoenix on Grand Avenue. On that afternoon twenty year old Kenny sat on a high stool at the hot dog stand and ate three bowls of the delicious beans. Afterwards, he felt full and happy.

The Great Depression was in full bloom. Many young men were broke and out of work, but the handsome, red-headed Kenny Budd was earning seventeen dollars a week, and he always had some loose change in his pocket. When Ken was a little boy his father had taught him the value of money by paying him a nickle to go without supper and then charging him a nickle for breakfast every morning. Kenny was a distance swimmer who had developed a big chest and strong muscles. Freckle faced, he was a practical joker who laughed with the same breathy sounds you hear when the dog Pluto laughs in Walt Disney cartoons. His favorite trick at the city swimming pool was to shock sunbathers - especially pretty girls who were close to the edge of the pool. He would wait until a sunbather was almost asleep, then do a pile dive off the high diving board. He splashed cold water all over everybody. The girls did not get very mad at Kenny because he was always in good humor and they liked him.

After eating the three bowls of chili beans, Kenny walked around downtown for an hour. Then he went to see a nine cent movie. He walked half way down the aisle and sat in the first seat. The seats next to him were empty. An elderly married couple sat directly in front of him. The news-reel showed pictures of Japanese soldiers executing Chinese people by cutting off their heads with long curved swords. It showed marching German soldiers doing the goose step without bending their knees. They raised their legs high in perfect time with precision. The news-reel was made with hand cranked movie cameras and the projectionist showed the film at fast speed in order to make the pictures clear. This made the marching Nazis look like they were running in jerky motions.

Kenny scooted down in his seat and rested his knees on the back of the old lady's theater seat. The black and white cartoon was about Mickey Mouse, Pluto, and Horace Collar. The main feature was a quiet love story about a rich New York couple who tried to speak with high classed British accents. Kenny was not bored with the film, but after eating chile beans, he felt sleepy. The middle aged couple sitting in front of him were absorbed in the love story. Kenny let himself relax a little too much and accidently let out some gas from the beans. It was silent, but a devastating odor filled the theater where Kenny was seated. The old lady in front of him jabbed her elbow into her husband's side twice and whispered, "John,___John,___. Did you do that?"

Kenny laughed under his breath like Pluto laughed in the cartoon. In a moment Kenny was wheezing and holding his arms wrapped around his middle. As he laughed his body slipped down the front of his chair until he was sitting on the floor. As soon as he was able, he hurried up the aisle and left the theater.