Camarones Cocinados en Comal

A piece of flash writing inspired by the work of photographer Tania Franco Klein.

Car, Window (Self-portrait) (2018) by Tania Franco Klein, from her series Proceed to the Route.

It was a long hot shift whose end had finally arrived. La Güera stank of chorizo con huevos, burnt papas fritas, and overcooked coffee. Standing in the parking lot, she looked forward to the promise of camarones hot off the griddle, popped into her saliva filled mouth, followed by a swig of dark, foamy cerveza. A treat because she hadn’t prepare the food, and which she could tongue knowing the hands that had made it would later bring her pleasure in other ways. Waiting for The Lover, she wondered if this one was The One. They had met and fallen into a mezcal fueled passion that was but a few days in the unfolding. She had loaned The Lover her car. It was a real junker, but it ran. It was her ticket to somewhere when she decided if a place or person was ready to be seen in the rearview mirror. A possibility to score some great mota was just a few kilometers away if she loaned her car to The Lover. She had watched while hands that had pleasured her, now gave a stab of discomfort with the familiarity those digits had as they fingered the stash of savings she had placed in an olla. Yet, here she was, end of work, end of week, looking into the distance, awaiting the return of her car, with a promise of camarones cocinados en comal con cerveza.