Now jelly bean is a word that I learned quite early.
If I were a child and someone asked me if I wanted
a jelly bean, I would have said YES. If they had asked
me at the same time if I would like a papaya jelly bean,
I would have said YES. But still, I would not know what
a papaya jelly bean was, but I knew that no matter what,
it was a jelly bean, and I knew that it was a very good
thing to eat a jelly bean. Now as I grew older, I traveled
extensively. In South America, I often ate papaya. If
someone were to ask me Would you like some papaya,
I would say, naturally, YES, unless they had a suspicious
look. Or unless they were someone who seemed un
hygienic. Or someone evil, or someone who reminded
me of that girl I once knew. That terrible, terrible girl.
Her face was like everything that is wrong with papaya
and yet nothing that was right. That girl, that girl.
She is the sort of girl who makes you forget
what a jelly bean is really all about and
you are afraid to try papaya, that makes
you say I will not eat papaya
no matter what.
Molly said Whiskey in a Can, what a horrible idea.
I said, no, Chocovine, red wine and chocolate milk,
now that is a horrible idea. Molly said, I can't believe
that they are still together, he treats her so awfully and
she doesn't even know it. I said, you are right. Whiskey
in a Can. They are like Chocovine. You and I, were are
more like Whiskey in a Can. Whiskey in a Can, Molly said,
I made that up, and I said, but Chocovine, I didn't, what
happened to my imagination? Molly said, kissing my lips,
do not worry, Whiskey in a Can exists, it isn't my imagination
and I laughed, and laughed and said Ah but Chocovine,
it doesn't, at all, I imagine, it really is.
Ricky Garni is a graphic designer living in Carrboro, North Carolina. His work can be found in Evergreen Review, Camel Saloon, Used Furniture Review, and Orion Headless. His latest work, January, is a sequel to his earlier work, December. Although it could be the other way around, if there is a lot of space in between.