By Jeffrey Zable
So I walk into the corner market and start talking with the owner
of the deli and meat department of the store. I’ve known him for
a long time, consider him a friend, and often buy a sandwich
or some meat from him.
“Do you know who was here just a little while ago?” he says to me.
And I respond, “Was it God? Did he come by to have you make him
a hot pastrami sandwich on rye with a piece of melted cheese?”
“You’re close!” he says, “The actor Sean Penn was here. Bought
a sandwich for himself and the woman he was with.”
Did you have a conversation with him?” I ask, and he replies.
“Not really. But he did say he was going over to Golden Gate Park
and enjoy the day.”
“Interesting!” I answer, and then I wonder If I’d been here when
he came by if I would have said anything to him. I’m not much
of a movie star fan, but I have seen some of Penn’s work and think
he’s a good actor.
“Well, don’t you consider me a star!? I say to him, and he responds
with a straight face, “I’ll treat you like a star if you buy a sandwich!”
And so I order a ham and Swiss cheese sandwich with just a little lettuce
and mayo, which is what I usually order. . .
Jeffrey Zable is a teacher, conga drummer/percussionist
who plays Afro-Cuban folkloric music for dance classes and
rumbas around the San Francisco Bay Area and a writer of poetry,
flash-fiction, and non-fiction. He’s published five chapbooks
and his writing has appeared in hundreds of literary magazines
and anthologies, more recently in Ranger, New English Review,
A Sufferer’s Digest, The Raven’s Perch, and many others. . .
Hot Pot Magazine 