Hot Sauce
Everyone called my grandfather “Lum.” His
name was really Columbus. He had a small country store
where men would often go by and eat dinner,not called lunch
back then. Most often the meal would consist of a can of
potted meat, Vienna sausage, or sardines, a nickel box of
soda crackers and a large cola. He provided a couple of
chairs, a small table and a bottle of pepper sauce made
with small hot peppers in vinegar.
Quaker Davis lived near by and came to the store often but
never bought anything. He would just stop to visit and
would always drink the pepper sauce, leaving the bottle
empty for those eating there.
My grandfather, fed up with his behavior, decided to make
some extra hot pepper sauce and have it on the table when
Quaker came.
He saw him coming so he set the extra hot sauce on the
table. As usual Quaker sat down at the table and turned the
pepper sauce up and drank the whole bottle. He wiped his
lips with his sleeve and exclaimed, “Lum, that’s the best
yet!”