Around the Bend: Beans

Dad hesitated. He pulled at his chin and looked at the Chinaman.

"Is there a guarantee with them?'"

"Yes, there is guarantee," said the man. "You no like, you bring back. You go home, try them. If they no good, you bring back. I give you money back."

"All right," said Dad, and he handed the whole one hundred and fifty dollars over.

The Chinaman smiled like the sunshine at us. He had some teeth missing but there were enough left to make a half-finished smile. He took Dad's money, counted it carefully, and passed the bag of beans over.

"Thank you very much," he said. "Have a nice day."

"You, too," said Dad.

We left the shop. I felt really guilty. What would Mum say when we got home? What would Dad say? How could he explain what he'd done? We should have kept the car!

I was right about Mum. She blew her top.

"You bought what?!?" she shouted.

"Some beans," said Dad.

"You mean we don't have a car, and all we have is a few stupid little beans!?"

"They're not stupid," said Dad. "They're Magnabeans. They're special!"

"You've been cheated!" she shouted. "Fooled! Sold down the creek!"

"No, I haven't," said Dad. "Wait till we start selling them at the gate!"

"You fool!"

I sat quietly on the couch and waited for the argument to finish. I knew it would, eventually, because Mum and Dad got along really well, most of the time. They had about one spat a week, usually about money. Most of the time they really loved each other.

Today was the angriest I'd ever seen Mum. She yelled at Dad for about ten minutes, till she'd said everything she could think of. Then she grabbed the bag of beans and dangled it in front of Dad's nose.