Last July my wife asked me to prepare my special taco recipe as a birthday lunch treat for her dad. I am a pretty good chef, mind you, but my tacos are not the regular type -- they are more of a buffet you can stuff with whatever you can handle in your plate. At your own risk, as I later learned.
That Sunday morning, I decided to skip breakfast to leave space for the main course. I returned from the market after buying all the best ingredients and began preparing, as always, my guacamole entrée, which I serve along with several side dishes of hot peppers, chipotles, jalapenos, chopped tomatoes, onions, tortilla chips, boiled chicken breast strips, coriander sauce, spiced meat, and other tasty goodies. I normally have small bites of food while cooking, and this particular day I was quite happy for some reason; so by the time the guests began to show up around midday I had already eaten a large amount of avocado, chips, and jalapeno appetizers by myself.
My wife decided to raise my spirits early, so she poured me a couple of triple tequila shots. Beyond that, the day was quite hot, so everyone dropped by the kitchen to greet the chef with some ice-cold beer. By the time lunch was finished and everyone was ready to enjoy, it was about 1:30, and I had finished a number of beers as well as nearly an entire bottle of El Jimador Limited Edition tequila. As you can imagine, I was more than tingly all over. The drinking had made me real hungry, so, for some reason (blame the alcohol), I decided to amuse the crowd by testing my eating capacity, which is considerable by any standards. I am not talking about your regular rolled tacos -- I went for Big Mac tortilla-type tacos, loaded with layer after layer of meat, beans, peppers, cheese, guacamole, and all the other stuff I can't even remember being on the table.
I do remember people staring in awe at the sizes of my servings. I lost count after the fifth plate of multi-layered tacos. There were more -- I can not recall precisely how many -- and they were washed down with yet more beer. Ego (blame alcohol again) had impaired my senses. My little nephews and other family members cheered in full admiration of my stamina. Even I was impressed with my achievements. I really was pushing my own limits that day.
Looking back as the events unfolded, maybe it was simply a death wish. However, I was truly amazed that I did not feel any weird pains in my stomach, nor did I have any adverse reactions whatsoever. I felt invincible (yup, the alcohol again). For a moment I believed I would be able to pull it out and set a new personal eating record.
To this date, my stomach still rumbles and howls in agony as I relive those last moments in my head. God knows it was too much for any human being to withstand. And I now realize why gluttony is among the deadly sins -- it's not a religious matter, it's a survival issue. Everyone had stopped eating long ago, I should have also, but I nevertheless decided to return to the kitchen to see if there was more left. It was around 4:00. I'd been eating roughly three hours continuously. My wife didn't say a thing -- she's grown used to it.
Then, without warning, it happened. Cold sweat poured down my face, I grew very dizzy, my whole abdomen hurt like hell, I felt severely bloated, and a constant ringing sound tortured my ears. Maybe it was because I was intoxicated, or maybe I had just defied the bowel gods and now they were laughing at me. Right then and there I thought I was going to die. Honestly, I could not move an inch, and even breathing created an excruciating pain. I tried calling my wife, but it was no use. I simply could not inhale or exhale.
So I stood there awhile, drunk, panting, sweating, and wondering what to do. I began to feel an amazing pressure slowly crawling outwards from my stomach -- so slow it was agony. I knew it was only gas, and since nobody was around, I decided to let it go. My butthole ached, feeling like it was melting as the densest, hottest, most putrid stench I've ever been forced to experience invaded the entire kitchen. Oh, what a relief. Even my dog, Hamlet, a Great Dane who regularly hangs around the kitchen, noticed it; he nervously sniffed around, looking for the contamination source.
I was finally able to walk again, slowly, although this time I began to burp uncontrollably -- large amounts of undigested food were refusing to stay put, and a chain of gassy aftershocks threatened to end my suffering at any time. Either I was about to barf or shit my pants, or both. I looked around in desperation and saw my chance: the kitchen leads to a secluded yard where Hamlet sleeps.
Sweet salvation. I moved as best I could to this spot. Hamlet normally leaves amazingly large turds around -- I could blame it on him. Oh, yes. Not honorable, but it was better than shitting myself in front of everybody I know.
So I dropped my pants and let it all out, praying no one would step in and find me in this situation. You could almost hear the Platoon movie soundtrack in the background -- the gloomy string adagio -- as time seemed to turn into slow motion, extending every second into an eternal frame, while distant party sounds were completely muted by my ass falsetto. And all I could look at, with my eyes partially open, still grunting, was the face of poor old Hamlet. He did not have a clue of what was going on.
I've never seen such a mix flowing out. It grew, and grew, and grew, and piled up to a heap of semi-liquid ass stew with occasional jelled squirts ranging from green to red to black, the colors artistically spattering the wall behind me. It was mostly dark green, though; from the guacamole, I guess. A bizarre salad, if you wish. And the smell -- it was surreal. Hamlet did not like it a bit, that's for sure. I can still clearly see his expression -- a bit confused, but largely angry at me. They say some dogs seek poo to eat. He's never done it. What's more, he avoids his own turds at all costs, as if they were deadly land mines. So imagine how he was loving this moment...
I cleaned up and left the crime scene. As I returned, I was met by some loved ones who wondered why I took so long in the kitchen. My throat knotted as I told them the dog had made a mess outside that needed to be fixed. My nephews curiously peered into the yard to assess the damage, and my wife scolded the dog for a week after, but no one would ever know the awful truth -- except for myself, and Hamlet.