If You Give a Kid a Chili Pepper, What Do You Expect?

It started out as just another boring day of homeschool with easy peasy math problems first thing in the morning and then we did cut outs of letters and matched the letters to words. I’m tired of staying home from school because of the stupid virus. 

BORING!!!!!!! 

Well, I was glad when Aunt Suzie came over to take mom and me out to lunch at the new Mexican restaurant. We could go there because they have outdoor tables. 

So we got to the restaurant and we got a table near three ladies. One of the ladies had a cute little dog sitting on her lap. She let me pet her dog. 

The waiter came over and gave us menus and I was so glad they had cheeseburgers because Mexican food is too spicy for me. My mom ordered tacos and Aunt Suzie ordered a chicken burrito. She told the waiter to put extra green chilis on it. 

My mom and Aunt Suzie talked about boring stuff like work and what their favorite wine is while I colored the placemat with crayons the waiter gave me. After a long, long time, the food FINALLY came. Before I could even take a bite of my hamburger, Aunt Suzie dared me to eat a chili pepper. 

“No way!” I said, “I know those things are WAY too spicy.” But then she told me she would give me 5 dollars if I ate one. Well, with my birthday money and the 5 dollars I could get a

Minecraft T-shirt, so I said, “Ok - deal.”  

I closed my eyes, took a deep breath and bit into the green chili...Owwwwweeeeee!!!!!! My mouth was on fire!!!!! 

I jumped up from the table and reached for my soda, which I knocked over so I started yelling and jumping around. My eyes teared up so I couldn’t see and I bumped into the table next to us where the ladies were sitting and the little dog got all scared, jumped out of the lady’s lap and ran off. “Brutus, Brutus”, the lady called out - I guess that was the dog’s name. She jumped up and started running after the dog and ran right into a waiter who was carrying a big tray of food which fell onto the other ladies sitting at her table. 

This made Aunt Suzie laugh so loud that she peed her pants, so we had to get containers for our food and go home. Bummer! 

But, at least Aunt Suzie gave me 5 dollars. 

I guess when you bet a kid to eat a hot green chili, you better be ready for trouble.

By Richard Nault

(The Writer’s Workshop began as a noncredited course through the Community Colleges of Spokane Institute for Extended Learning (IEL). The IEL changed to the ACT 2 Program to encourage seniors over the age of 50 to participate in classes. This course was designed for those who want to write memoirs, stories, essays or poetry. Members share their work, weekly. Discussion and thoughtful, considerate feedback is encouraged.)