An Arab gentleman with a gray mustache runs the House of Meat. He sells many imported grocery items; tea, oil, coffee, shisha, and date-filled pastries, in addition to his freezer full of animal parts. Al-Jazira is always on the T.V. perched on a shelf. The Arabic on all of the product tins and boxes is so graceful, so aesthetically pleasing. The whole place smells like a different country.
As I entered I smiled and waved in greeting. The gentleman waved back. We puttered around the store for a bit while another customer ordered a pound or two of chicken.
A serpentine hookah was wrapped up on a shelf. I recall a hookah bar a group of friends and I used to visit during the summer. That was the summer that we would pay regular visits to the House of Meat to stock up on steaks, and we would grill in a sun-drenched park or field somewhere, under the shade of a tree.
Our plans were simple, we would grill the steaks and have a nice dinner, and I would neglect doing my vignettes for English class. After the gentleman had finished going at the T-bone with his circular saw (Oh, the piercing whine of sawed bone) I approached the counter to pay.
“T-bone is six dollars a pound, for you, five. That is you’re price only, okay?” he said, and with a furtive smile he took my money. Once he threw in a box of baklava with a steak purchase, “Halal-approved,” he assured me. I always thank him profusely. We left the shop laden with steak and goat ribs, and drove home.
The temperature had already begun to drop. I rolled my window down, savoring the last of the warm evening. I put on King Crimson, In the Court of the Crimson King, an album perfectly suited for warm spring evenings in the car with the breeze lapping against my arm.
The steaks were juicy, and I made a pot of coffee afterwards. Everyone left after the coffee, and I did the dishes feeling very full and very well.

Some shop owners are always so nice. You visit enough, and are friendly, they give you all sortsa lovely discounts.
» ikimashokie on 2007-03-16 10:05:47

King Crimson always reminds me of the House of Meat, especially that album.
» Bartholomew on 2007-03-16 02:28:06

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