Chapter 1 – Scarecrow

Taco Stop MKE – 513 N. Chicago Ave., South Milwaukee

I met Renée at the Taco Stop in South Milwaukee near the end of August, a warm day, we sat outside at a picnic table. It's hard to imagine not sitting outside at this place, a former A&W Root Beer stand, but maybe I'll return in the middle of winter, with snow on the ground. She suggested the place because of my taco Instagram, which I then explained was for the promotion of my underground, unlicensed taco franchise that I ran out of my apartment. But I could still write a review, I said—I write reviews of everything, from Steely Dan songs to the last corndog at Octoberfest. As we sat and talked I realized I couldn't penetrate the opaque darkness of her sunglasses. I never thought about it before, but when you can't see someone's eyes it's a bit disquieting. Meanwhile, she could see right through me, as if I was hastily constructed of straw and barely maintaining in the wind. I didn't really run a taco restaurant, and my reviews, particularly the food related ones, had fallen by the wayside. I passed off an old blog, dedicated to the taco, to a hapless pseudonym for whom failure was an art form. But then an idea came to me, inspired by the best inspiration of all: desperation. I'd use this meal to begin a new project, to investigate the local taco scene. But how to not make if feel like reviving the corpse of an old failure? I would have to come up with a radical approach, and soon. But meanwhile, I struggled to remember my carnitas tacos. I attempted the old trick, when eating with vegetarians, to cover the meat with avocado, which typically fools no one—and of course she could see right through me like a old guy whose attempt to drive with the top down only serves to cause his toupee to fly off in the wind. Was that a scarecrow over by the corner of the fence, I wondered? I was going to mention it, but got sidetracked in the conversation, that is, the conversation of life. We rode off on our respective bicycles. I'd have to come back later, I guess, and investigate further, the dining room, the scarecrow, the crows, the tacos.