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THE Coins
He disappeared like a mouse, and that fast too. I hardly had time to turn my head, when he reappeared with two glasses of iced tea. I graciously accepted the offered cup, although I was longing for a beer. The tea was flavorful, much more than those bought at the supermarket. Hal must have brewed the tea himself, instead using those packaged ones.
We were sitting at the glass counter. It held coins, although the smoky glass made it hard to see the details. But it made for a great lean-on as I sipped the sweet cool beverage. Hal saw me looking at the contents of the display and smiled.
‘Do you collect coins?’
‘No. I don’t. Sorry.’
‘That’s all right, young man. Many people use coins instead of collecting them. Look at these for instance.’ Hal opened my palms and handed me two beans. At least they looked like beans. The look on my face betrayed my bafflement.
‘Hehehe…These are not beans. Well, they are sort of. These are cocoa beans.’
Hal saw that I still had no idea what he was talking about. I was not really interested in beans, but he continued anyway. ‘These cocoa bean were highly valued in the ancient culture of Mesoamerica. Especially the Aztecs. They called them cacao, which is where the word cocoa bean came from. And they believed that the cacao beans were connected somehow to their God, Quetzalcoatl. Ah, I’m babbling, and you probably can find out all about this if you so choose on the Internet.’
Yup! I had more ‘interesting’, Ahem!, things to see on the net, but I could not mention that to Hal.
‘No, please. I still don’t know what is the connection of this chocolate bean to coins.’ I looked at the dried beans, turning it left and right, upside and downside. I even flipped it in the air, but no metallic sound ever came from it.
‘Hehehe…Young man. It’s very simple really. Cacao, or cocoa beans, was very much valued, and so these beans were traded as a commodity, and in time, used as coins. You see, back then; before the Spanish came to the New World, cacao was a rarity. It grew only at certain places. So the nobility of the Aztecs realized this, and wars were fought for control of cacao growing areas. The nobility mixed the ground beans with hot water and called the drink, xocoatl or cacahuatl, meaning Bitter Water. It became known as the Drink of the Gods. And so the cocoa beans that you hold in your hands are coins, in another part of the world. And in another part of time.’
I was held mesmerized by the knowledge that the old man possessed. I had always love a good story, and if you say: ‘Once upon a time…’ you’ll have my full attention. I looked at the beans again, wondering how such a small thing could start wars. I shrugged, knowing that the pursuit of wealth was the same everywhere, and during any period in time. Mankind had not changed much it seemed.
I tried to give back the beans to the Hal, but he shook his head and said, ‘You keep them, young man. I have many more. Hehehe… Good day to you then.’
‘Thank you very much for the drink. Good day to you also.’
I pocketed the beans and made my way to the car. I wondered how Connie would react to two cocoa beans in my pocket. She does my laundry, and she empties my pockets. If she finds money, she kept it. And if she found condoms, there would be war on a biblical scale. But what would she think if she found some cocoa beans? That I would be a suitable candidate to be taken away by men in white coats? I should throw away the beans immediately. But as I toyed with them in my pocket, I decided to keep them.
I quickly took my hands out of my pockets when I saw Connie looked at me funny. As if I was toying with something else. I did have a guilty look on my face. But, can’t people understand that playing ‘pocket pool’ alone was not such a fun game at all? I smiled cheekily at her and winked. Besides, we were the only customers around.
The drive home was uneventful, which was to say that I didn’t have to curse and yell as much. The traffic had thinned out considerably. Maybe people realized that I was on my way home….
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Hybrid Mode
