Read Online Black Beans & Vice by J. B. Stanley - Free Book Online

brother in the side. "I wanted to get you the
Librarian Drinking League tie, but Francis said Mrs. Waxman
wouldn't approve."
    "Probably not," James agreed with a laugh and then sighed. "I'd
better get back in there and look over those applications. So far, no one's worthy of even licking Mrs. Waxman's boots, let alone filling
them."

    As James reviewed applications from college students in search
of an easy summer job, retirees who wanted a permanent part-time
position but didn't want to work the hours the position required,
and a young mother who wanted the job but only if she could bring
her three-month-old infant along, he began to despair.
    Finally, toward the bottom of the stack, James came across a
very promising application. A graduate student from U.V.A. was
looking for evening and weekend hours as he had classes every
weekday morning. The young man was working toward a Master's
in English Literature and was not only well read, but also mentioned that he was interested in pursuing a career in public service.
Feeling optimistic, James was just reaching for the phone to schedule an interview when his gaze fell on the application line reading,
Wage Sought.
    The young man had written that he needed to make a minimum of twenty-five dollars an hour to cover his cost of living.
    Spluttering, James slammed the phone back into the cradle.
"Where are you living? In a mansion? With a butler and a personal
chef? The nerve!"
    He was just warming up to his indignation when the phone
rang. It was Jane calling to assure him that Eliot's pediatrician said
that their son could receive all the nutrition he needed from a balanced vegetarian diet.
    "As long as he's eating plenty of protein, taking his vitamins,
and not subsisting on potato chips and fruit roll-ups, he'll be fine."
James heard a hesitation in her voice. "The doctor also seemed to
think this was merely a phase. Apparently, it's quite common for kids to experience feelings of guilt about eating animals at some
point in their childhood."

    "So what do we do?" James asked. "Encourage him or try to
convince him that he doesn't need to feel guilty?"
    "I think we should support his decision, but we need to sit
down with him this weekend and explain animal husbandry a bit.
I want him to realize that raising livestock or eating meat does not
make a person bad."
    Jane's suggestion caused an idea to form in James' mind. "Why
don't we let him talk to a farmer? There's a food festival in town
this weekend and a bunch of local food producers have been invited to sell their products to the public. After we give Eliot his
Livestock 101 talk, we can bring him to the fair."
    "Sounds good to me," Jane replied. "But James, we have to be
honest with him. You and I both know that animals raised for food
consumption don't always have decent lives or humane deaths. I
know he's only four, but I don't want to deceive him."
    James didn't like the direction in which the conversation was
headed. "We're not going to tell him boldfaced lies, but I'm not going to go into detail about slaughterhouse practices either. I think
we should focus on the message he got from this Fay Sunray person. I'll search around on the Internet and see if someone posted
a recording of her Nashville performance. She started this whole
thing, so I want to know exactly what she said that upset Eliot so
much."
    "I wish my parents could remember. Of all the times for me to
have dashed off to the restroom!" Jane lamented. "I feel like I've
lost my mind since he made his announcement during dinner. I
wouldn't be so worried if my friends at work hadn't freaked me out by recommending family therapy and links to a dozen parenting websites." She grew quiet for a moment. "I've never secondguessed my maternal instincts until now. I don't like feeling so uncertain, James. Like I'm going to emotionally scar this kid if I don't
handle this situation perfectly."

    Though James knew precisely how Jane