For years, I've driven on a main drag through Summertown, one town away from Pleasantville. In fact, long ago and far away, Xman and I almost bought a house on that street - until he said the basement made him think of "Silence of the Lambs".
Um. Anyway, on this street, there are a lot of little businesses. A home improvement business. Two old school taverns that smell of old beer and cigarettes. A special cake bakery for weddings and "occasions" that is now a Portuguese barbecue place. A news stand. And for years, Mundo del Pollo.
The curb next to Mundo is always packed and sometimes the more daring who ordered take out will double park. Even though it looked like your basic hole in the wall, it was and is very popular. I imagined the inside as dank, dark and grubby.
A couple of weeks ago, I decided to find out for myself. I found a parking place and hesitantly went in.
Mundo del Pollo is beautiful. It is spotlessly clean. The tile floor is cool underfoot. The walls are painted brilliant yellow and the ceiling is painted midnight blue. There are white table cloths on the tables. On the walls are paintings - inexplicably, Michelangelo's God Creates Adam, a painting of a young Peruvian boy carrying his little brother on his shoulder. A corner of a Peruvian village, where the view diverges into two streets, with the mountains in the far distance.
The place is loud. Very, very, very loud. Yesterday, they were playing Pan flute covers of Beatles songs. It was lovely and calming, despite being very loud.
I ordered half a chicken, a diet Pepsi, and maduros which are very ripe fried plantains. The glass for the Pepsi held ice and a slice of lime. It was all muy delicioso. The chicken is the chicken of chickens. Falling off the bone tender, the skin a darkened crust of spices with a little bowl of creamy jalapeno sauce on the side.
I've been there twice and both times, I never felt the push that I feel in a norteamericano restaurant to get moving, to eat, pay the bill, and leave. When I finished, I sat and read for maybe another half hour. No rush. Take your time, senora. Ah.
In the town A River Runs Through It Frequently, I was driving through the other night. It has almost completely been repopulated with Latinos. Because a river runs through it frequently, too many people have gone through floods that totally destroyed their homes. People died there when the rains from Hurricane Floyd came through. It's taken years for the town to come back but anyone who could afford to, moved out.
It was maybe nine o'clock and I hadn't had dinner. Thinking of Mundo del Pollo, I developed a deep need for maduros. One little hole in the wall place had its "Open" sign still on. I turned around, parked out front and walked in.
This truly was a hole in the wall. There were maybe six tables. One customer sat at a table. The back table was the owner or the owner's daughter with her boyfriend and her brother. She was counting up the day's receipts.
I asked if the kitchen was still open and she said it was. I asked for an order of maduros to go. She seemed puzzled that that was all I wanted, but went in the back and told the cook.
The guy sitting at the table said, "You might want to take a seat. It's going to be awhile."
Eventually, the girl brought him a huge bowl of what looked like soup and a small plate of perfect white rice, topped with a boiled potato.
"What is that," I asked. In the bowl was meat broth, cut up corn cobs, several chunks of beef and yet more potatoes. It looked delicious. It smelled heavenly.
"They call it a meat pot," he said and I thought, I'm ordering that next time.
My order of maduros was brought out to me, I gave the girl a ten and she gave me eight bucks back. Two dollars? For maduros? That's cheap, I thought.
When I got home, I found out that not only were they cheap, they were the best maduros I've ever had. Perfectly ripe, cooked and cooked and cooked. With a sauce I couldn't identify on the side. Mayonaise? Sour cream? No idea. It was smooth and creamy and the perfect foil for the sweetness of the maduros.
I started to think about what I've learned this year, of the places and things that I've explored. It's a high price to pay for learning, but it's been more than learning. I have unknowingly built a community for myself. I better appreciate Pleasantville and its surroundings. At the fair the other night, I saw a lot of people I recognized and a lot of people recognized me. I've run into people from the knitting group at various places. I've run into people from church at the grocery store. I've run into people from the Speechifiers at Barnes & Noble.
Without knowing it, without looking for the longer term, I have somehow managed to begin building a life and a community for myself.
And I know where to get really good cheap maduros.
This is goodness.
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