meat market

Last week while weeding my flower beds my neighbor, Lee approached me with a cup of coffee and a hand rolled cigarette.
Without hesitation he made a proposition;
"how about you drive me downtown to the butcher so I can get one uh them freezer economy packs with my guv-mint card?"
Not knowing what the hell he was referring to, I asked him when he wanted to go, and that I could take him as long as he didn't mind going by Big Lots, too. He said as long as he got there before three it would be fine, so I told him that we could leave as soon as I got fox ready.
We drove straight to the butcher shop in downtown Knoxville, and Lee insisted that I come in and bring Fox. He loves going places with Fox and I. He always acts like he is helping us out in some way, as if I am a poor, single mother without a job or a family... Considering the situation I figure there's no harm in letting Lee pretend some, and it is always interesting to read peoples expressions when we walk into an establishment.
We waited for the butcher to assemble the order, then as Lee was preparing to pay, he asked the clerk to to "sell me a quarter uh 'at souse"
I casually glanced down to the giant souse log in the glass covered cooler, and before the man could lift it onto the slicer I spied the main ingredient. Pig snouts.
The man behind the counter asked him how thick he wanted it cut, and Lee gestured holding a pack of saltines which conveyed everything the man needed to know. He then asked if he wanted it in a "sack", but Lee declined as he planned to eat it in the car.
I gathered Fox back into his car seat and started to pull out of the place, when Lee immediately started directing me to "stay right here in the shoulder!! It ain't really a sidewalk, it's like a drivin' shoulder"
Since I had eyes and could see that it was, in fact a sidewalk; complete with an eight inch elevation above the road, drainage grates and crosswalks, I declined to drive on it and just waited my turn to pull onto the busy city street. Lee tsked in disapproval.
Sitting in the passengers seat, Lee prepared his snack, and holding out a piece of sliced souse, ordered me to take some. He said "here! eat dis!"
As he was holding that thick slice of particle meat so close to my face, I was able to see the sun shining through it's mosiac-like constitution, like a greasy stained glass window for a tiny meat house.
I tactfully declined since I had eaten just before leaving the house.
Lee skeptically asked if I had ever eaten souse before, and I told him that I had plenty of times as I crossed my fingers.
We headed to the produce stand where we purchased a 50lb bag of potatoes and a 25lb bag of onions which I bought since the business no longer accepts "food stamps cards", and Lee insisted that we would split it all up.
So now I have enough onions, potatoes, and various meat cuts to last months. If there is any souse in there I will give it to Jason and tell him it's pate.
My friend Brad is going to pen a comic about Lee.