Having loaded his weekly groceries into the trunk of his car, William pushed his shopping cart with purpose through the lot of empty cars toward the cart return slip. The bruise-colored sky had only gotten darker since he had entered the super market, and he had no desire to be rained on.
He aligned his cart with the other carts already resting neatly in the slip. Grinding his shoes into the asphalt, he pulled back on the handle, and was just about to give his cart a solid ram into the back of the one in front of it when he noticed a lump beneath it.
Abandoning his cart, William slipped between it and the railing to examine the object. It was a package. He squatted, holding his head close to the pavement to read its print.
PREMIUM MESQUITE SMOKED SAUSAGE
100% PORK
Proudly made, packaged, and distributed in Texas
Heat then Eat
William felt a chill in his fingertips as he picked up the sausage. He turned it over in his hands. There were no holes or tears in the plastic, no pockets of air beneath the surface. This meat appeared to have been recently misplaced.
William carried the package to the front of the cart return slip for a better view of the parking lot. Looking toward the store front, then toward the street, he saw no one. He then did a complete three hundred and sixty degree turn, slowly scanning the entirety of the lot.
Not a soul in site. He looked back at the package of pork in his hand.
Free meat, he thought, and walked to his car.
He tossed the package into the trunk with the other bags, started the car as usual, giving it gas to help it out — the starter had been busted for ages, but the old Volvo still ran fine once it got going — and drove home in silence.
What if someone had practiced injecting their drugs into the package of sausage? He thought. I’ll just throw it out as soon as I get home.
Only after his car was parked in its usual spot at the end of the only covered row at his apartment complex, and his groceries unloaded and stowed in their respective places, did William remember his free meat.
Free pork sausages did not have a place in his refrigerator as he had never purchased this particular sausage, let alone acquired it for free.
He placed the sausage in the center of island in his small kitchen and rested his hand next to it, leaning closer to again scrutinize the packaging. He still did not see any obvious tears in the plastic. He picked up the meat. It was still cool to the touch, though slightly less so than early. He slide his fingers across the plastic, again feeling for air pockets.
Why would anyone practice injecting drugs into a package of sausage? Wouldn’t that be a waste of drugs? He wondered.
He pulled the heavy cast iron skillet that he had inherited from his grandmother from the cabinet below, and placed it on the stove top. Turning the knob, he paused to listen for the click click click of the ignitor followed by the vwoosh of the gas catching fire. He set the knob on medium heat and went back to the cabinet to search for an old wooden cutting board, also inherited from his grandmother.
He placed the cutting board on the cabinet and pulled a chef knife from a block on the counter. Sliding the knife between the layers of plastic encasing the pork, he smelled the mouth watering scent of smoked meat.
Smells fine, he thought, and began to slide the knife through the sausage casing, cutting it into quarter-inch rounds.
The sausage rounds made a low sizzling sound as William scraped them into the hot skillet. That pungent meaty fragrance now combined with the unmistakable scent of rendering pork fat filled the kitchen as they cooked.
William flipped each round of sausage to the second side, though he could only wait a minute longer for the second side to attain a kiss of caramelized color.
Sliding the skillet to the cold back burner, he gingerly picked out a sausage and bounced it on his open palm.
“Ow. Ow. Ow,” he said, aloud, and crammed it into his mouth. He chewed and blew air through his mouth at the same time, rolling the sausage over his tongue, back and forth between each cheek. The sausage cooled enough for William to hold it in his mouth for a moment, savoring the smokey pork flavor.
His mouth salivated as he dumped the remaining sausages onto a plate. He didn’t bother to look for a fork. Instead he popped each sausage into his mouth with his fingers. Chewing as slowly as possible, he relished the flavors of the free meat for as long as he could.
William left the plate sitting on the island and took his regular seat in his cozy recliner. He pulled the lever to raise the foot rest, leaned his head back, and gazed at the ceiling as the popcorn texture began to dance and sway before him.
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