“100 Tacos”

By Sam Simon

100 Tacos

Last April, I spent eight days in Mexico with my brother. I had just finished a degree in London to zero fanfare and was on my way home to California. He had just quit a job he didn’t like, even though it had paid him more money a month than I was accustomed to making in a year. Leading up to the trip, we made a pact that we’d eat one hundred tacos — fifty each. When we flew home, I had eaten fifty-one and he had only managed forty-six. I commended his effort, but I was secretly proud of the fact that I had managed to accomplish what he hadn’t. When we landed, I joked that we should go for tacos. He laughed and said he’d need a week or so. We met nine days later, and even though I’d felt half full since we’d returned, I ordered three and finished them while he told me about the two offers he’d received that week. I guess they want someone who can’t quite finish the job, I joked. He laughed and paid the bill before hugging me a bit too tight. That night, after I’d returned to our mother’s house, and he to his downtown apartment, I threw up what felt like fifty-four tacos, though it couldn’t have been more than, say, twenty-nine. It took us a month to schedule another outing, mostly because of his new job, though there ended up being another reason. I hadn’t minded the wait, my gut had maintained this sinking feeling, as if it had one final taco inside it at all times of the day, whether I’d eaten or not. When I arrived at the restaurant, not the slightest bit hungry, he was already there, sharing a menu with a woman he was seated next to. This is my girlfriend, he explained. I’ve heard so much about you, she said. Likewise, I responded. I hear you like to write, she said, your brother says you’re good. I do, I answered, though I’m not sure how good I am, he’s the one who’s good at everything. I don’t happen to agree, she said. Oh? I asked. Yeah, she continued, in fact, I hear he couldn’t even finish fifty tacos. That’s right, I said, that’s exactly right.

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Sam Simon is a writer and translator from Oakland, Ca. He is a contributing editor for the Barcelona Review and teaches creative writing at the Institute for American Universities. He is a co-founder and the managing editor of Infrasonica.org.