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The following excerpt is from the prologue to
Candy
and Me.
Bubble Burgers
It all began when my brother entered the fourth grade. His new school
let out too late for our carpool to the suburbs, so he had to take the city
bus. One day he came home carrying a “Bubble Burger.” The Bubble Burger was
a pioneer in the less-than-inspiring category of bubble gum shaped like
real-world objects. I was still in the third grade, and I looked at Eric’s
Bubble Burger with wonder.
“Where did you get it?”
“In a little store called Alban Towers,” he said nonchalantly, as if
we’d had the freedom to buy whatever candy we wanted every day of our lives.
“How much did it cost?”
“A quarter,” he said with his mouth stuffed.
“Will you get me one?”
“Sure.”
The next day Eric brought me my first Bubble Burger. I chewed it,
probably swallowed it (I always found the concept of gum frustrating), and
plopped six allowance quarters down on his rug.
“You want six?”
“Yes,” I said. Eric shrugged. It wasn’t a total surprise. I had been
stealing his Halloween candy for years.
I continued to supply Eric with money for Bubble Burgers until a
thought occurred to me.
“At Alban Towers,” I asked him, “do they have other kinds of candy?”
He rolled his eyes. “Of course they do.”
“Like what?” I asked.
“Everything,” he said. I had no idea what everything was. I racked my
brain to remember the kinds of candy I had seen at the grocery store.
Finally, I dumped eight quarters on the rug.
“Just get me anything.”
Read more from Candy and Me.
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