by P.J. Lowry
Lizzy looked down at the list again and sighed. She knew exactly what this one meant and kept quiet for a few days, refusing to admit it to her friends. During that time she kept to herself and rethought about what she should do next. It also caused Anna and Gale to rack their brains over exactly what taco Hayden was referring to, which was rather redundant since she already knew what it meant. This item frustrated her so much, Lizzy had at one point considered tossing the list into the trash and walking away from it all. The reference was very personal, but Lizzy had no choice: this item was too much for her to handle alone. She sat in Hayden’s ugly green chair, wrapped in one of Hayden's favourite blankets and thought about what she was going to do. To go through with this task would mean to open up a very old memory that she had never shared with anybody, except Hayden who was there to live it with her. It was one of those moments they shared together, something private. Yet in order for Lizzy to do this item on the list, she would have to tell them her friend the whole story. In the end Lizzy decided it was best to show them the place where it all started and explain it there.
It was around six in the evening when Lizzy, Anna and Gale arrived to the small food establishment and Lizzy looked around with wonder. Not a thing seemed to have changed as it looked the same way it did the last time she was there with Hayden. The ladies were greeted by the manager who was waiting tables that night and he whisked them all to a nice little booth in the corner and served them each a menu.
After he took off, Anna was the first to speak. “Why are we here? I mean this place isn't exactly the first place I would have suggested.”
“I know it's not much.” Lizzy said as she looked around. “But the staff is outgoing and polite and the meals are nothing short of amazing. They’re actually famous for one item in particular. If you manage to eat the entire thing, your entire table eats for free and you get your face put up over there on the wall of fame.” She pointed over to a wall where there were only less than twenty pictures taken from a Polaroid camera of people who had successfully eaten this item. Above the pictures read a sign: The people who conquered ‘the taco’.
“Oh my gaud,” Gale said as she read the sign, “Is this the place where it all started?”
“Yes, it is.” Lizzy said.
“And Hayden ate one of these tacos?” Anna asked.
“Well the list does say eat 'another' taco,” Lizzy answered as she pointed to the wall, “Look at the picture in the upper right corner.”
The two girls quietly got up from their seat and walked over to the wall. They scanned all the pictures on the right side and there he was. Hayden had what looked like ten pounds of salsa dribbled all over the front of his shirt, but he was grinning from ear to ear and Lizzy was right behind him, laughing and hugging him from behind. When they returned to the table, the girls were stunned.
"So this is the place where Hayden ate the taco,” Gale said as she thought about it, “but what exactly started here?"
“We did,” Lizzy answered, “That picture was taken during our first date.”
Hayden sat in his chair, shifting around every few minutes. Finally he looked up at Lizzy with a childish grin on his face. That kind of face that you know men have when they are going to do something rash and risky.
“I was thinking of doing something really big tonight.” Hayden said as he pointed down at the menu to the biggest item on the list: The Wild Bill. It was a taco that was nothing short of enormous. Inside it was third of a head of lettuce, half a pound of cheese, two pounds of ground beef, and enough spices to kill a small animal just from smelling it. If anyone was able to finish the Will Bill in one sitting, the entire table would eat for free, and the person who ate it would have a picture posted on the wall of fame. Lizzy looked at the item that he was considering. Apparently he would also get a free t-shirt that said 'I conquered the Wild Bill" that had a logo of the joint on it too. She looked at it again and then the wall before turning back at Hayden.
“Are you sure you want to do something like this on our first date?” She asked.
“I think for all the glory," Hayden said as he took a sip of his beer, "You have to be willing to give anything a try.”
“What you're purposing is a really big commitment.” Lizzy said as she also looked down at the menu. It said that if Hayden failed to eat the Taco, not only would you still have to pay for everyone eating at the table, the charge for an unfinished taco was forty-nine dollars and ninety-nine cents. The price was that steep to prevent people from trying without being fully committed. She was afraid that he would fail and then she would have to chip in and pay for the meal that she assumed he was going to cover.
“I know,” He concurred, “But I think it’s worth the risk.”
“Really?” Lizzy asked with an amused smile. “Are you sure about that?”
“With you here, I believe anything is possible.” he said with a smile. He waited for the waitress to return to place their orders.
The waitress at first laughed when Hayden ordered the taco, but was more serious when he insisted. “You do realize it's fifty bucks if you can't eat it all, right?”
“Yes, I am aware of that.” Hayden replied, “I’ll be all right.”
Lizzy went on to order something conservative, wishing that her date had done the same. It seemed to her that he was trying to do anything, even be foolish just to impress her on their first date. She had watched in disgust at first and then later with pride and amazement as Hayden took each bite towards infamy. Her husband to be had at the time went on to become only the fourteenth person to ever eat an entire Wild Bill taco. People at other tables cheered as Hayden put the last two bites into his mouth and he raised his arms in victory and stuck out his tongue to prove that he had finished the last bite and was successfully down. The taco was so stuffed of everything the joint could pack into it that a lot of salsa, melted cheese and sour crème had spilled onto Hayden’s shirt. He was a mess and that was a new shirt he had bought just for his first date with Liz. The owner of the establishment came over and gave Hayden his shirt and got him to pose with it for his photo. When the flash went off, she had suddenly figured out the reason why Hayden had taken the risk to himself, his shirt and especially his stomach to win the prize. The photographer and the picture he had just snapped forever immortalized their first date and the picture would remain on their wall for as long as the place remained in business for everyone to look at. A picture of Hayden Sheppard and his friend Lizzy on their first date, there for everyone to look at and applaud every time they came in to eat. It was the one taco that turned their first date into an event, one the restaurant took the time to frame and hang on their wall.
Lizzy had never seen the photo since the time it was taken, but it was over five years ago and she remembered how they both felt about it. Not many people have a picture of their first date, and it was nice to see and know it was somewhere safe. Lizzy walked back to her table and joined Gale and Anna. They were both talking about how interesting this place was, and were scanning the menu for something they wanted to eat. Before they could say anything else, Lizzy took away their menus and folded them down in front of her. “We’re not ordering from the menu.”
They both looked up at her, but it was Gale who spoke first. “And why not?”
“Because I've already ordered for us.” Lizzy answered with a smile.
“Oh no!” Anna said as she put her hands in her face. “I am not eating that taco!”
“I have a very weak stomach.” Gale said as she tried to weasel out. “I can't handle spices that much, let alone this goliath.”
“Calm down.” Lizzy said as she was almost ready to laugh, “I ordered only one taco, and it’s for all three of us.”
The two women didn't seem so frightened anymore and had a moment to calm down before the taco arrived. Three against one seemed like better odds. “All right.” Anna said with a deep breath. “We'll do it together.”
When the taco arrived
about fifteen minutes later, they were all shocked by its grandeur and obesity. They were stunned to imagine that Hayden had eaten one of these all by himself because if was almost the size of Anna's head! Just from the smell of it, you could tell that it was packed with peppers, spices and probably anything hot in the kitchen the chef could shove into it. The three of them sat there and looked at it for a few moments, waiting for someone else to go first. To break the ice, Lizzy decided to go first. She grabbed a knife and fork and slowly cut a small sliver off the end of the taco and moved it to her own plate. She then cut off two more pieces smaller than her own and passed them to Anna and Gale’s plate. “Dig in.” she commanded.
"Thanks.” Gale replied as she picked up her knife and fork.
Lizzy did wait and started to cut into her piece and eat it one small portion at a time. After the first few bites, Lizzy didn't seem fazed at all. “Not bad, nowhere near as hot as I...”
The other two girls were looking at her and she could feel beads of sweat roll down the side of her head. She took out a mirror from her purse and looked to see that her face had turned a shade of red, and she was sweating profusely. She immediately grabbed some water and drank half a glass in an attempt to cool down.
Gale was the next to go and she cut a middle piece out and moved it to her own plate as well. Rather than take big bites out of the taco, they would nibble on their own pieces and then take another when the first piece was gone. Anna wasn't good with spices and she turned an even deep shade of red as she ate her portion of the taco, coughing and going through water faster than Gale and Lizzy were. The owner came back every few minutes with a new pitcher of water to help them out. With each bit, their mouths burned with spices and peppers, eyes began to water and tears were present; if you didn't know better, you could have swore all three women had just returned from a funeral from all the tears that were being shed. But everyone there was quite familiar with the taco, well aware of the tears the monster meal could generate.
Anna put her fork down after finished her second piece, “I can't believe Hayden ate this entire thing by himself!” she said before downing a full glass of water.
“I can’t believe he wanted to eat this again!” Gale replied.
“You need a cast iron stomach to keep that down.” Anna concurred.
“I am never eating spicy food ever again!” Gale cried with each torturous bite. With each horrific bite, every one of them had gained a new respect for Hayden and his ability to eat a lot of weird stuff.
The manager came over with more water and laughed as he saw the three crying women trying to tackle the taco together. “Are you ladies finished? Would you like me to take it away?”
“No!” Lizzy cried out as she guarded the plate from the manager. Encouraged by their drive to finish, the manager smiled and wished them luck on finishing the taco. After eating two portions each, there was an extra decent sized corner of the taco left they had lost to count when portioning out the taco. Lizzy looked over and realized that her two friends had reached their limit, she was on her own. She put the utensils down and reached over, grabbing the last piece of the taco with her hands. The last portion was still almost the size of her hand as she picked it up and just took the biggest bite she could out of it. Without thinking, she just kept biting and chewing until there was nothing left but a big mess of salsa and grease on her hands. She looked back at her friends who staring back at her in awe. Lizzy was a complete mess with red sauce all over her hands, her face as well as her shirt which was clearly ruined. Lizzy smiled and then grabbed a napkin to clean her face.
“Scratch one more from the list.” She said after wiping her mouth.
“Good!” Anna snapped back, “Because I’m never eating tacos again!”
Before Lizzy could reply to that, the manager arrived to speak with them and they couldn't help but notice he had a camera with him.
“Time for picture,” the manager said with a big smile, “I'm going to print it on the computer and put it on the wall.”
“But there were three of us eating it,” Anna said slightly confused. “I thought sharing was against the rules.”
“That may be true,” the owner replied, “But have you looked up there? There's nothing but men up there. You are the first women to ever finish the taco! This is a rare feat and I think you all deserve to be on the wall!”
The girls were delighted and accepted the invite to make the wall. Lizzy didn’t care about forking over fifty dollars to pay for the taco as her goal was something more personal. The manager waited for them to compose themselves and for Lizzy to clean her face with her napkin and then got them all to huddle together. The manager passed out three t-shirts that said ‘I conquered the Wild Bill’ to pose with for the camera. He flashed a picture of his newest winners on his digital camera and ran off to his office to print off a few copies.
"This is so awesome!" Gale said in complete shock, “We're going to make the wall with Hayden!”
Lizzy liked the thought of that as the item was confirmed finished as they watched the manager place a new winner to his wall. He called Lizzy to come over and do something new that he changed since the last time she was there. Underneath their picture was a place where they could sign their names and leave a message or dedication. Lizzy and the girls all signed their names and as Lizzy signed her name last she made a dedication right under all their names. The girls took a look at what she had written and smiled and celebrated with a hug. Underneath the picture of the three girls sitting and with Lizzy's shirt covered in salsa and taco sauce read two words: for Hayden.
