meat on the brain

Do people ea barwes in mooseconsin?, he asks around a mouthful of ketchuppy hotdog and a lisp.
Was that, Do people eat bears in Wisconsin?
Yeah . . . How do you say it? (he focuses on my mouth)
Wisconsin.
Miss Conssin, he repeats carefully.
Yeah. And yes, people eat bear meat sometimes, but it doesn't taste very good.
You tasted a bear?
Bear meat. Yeah, it's greasy and gray colored.
Who killed it?
A friend of Grandpa's.
Grandpa says anything you kill you have to eat it, and never kill anything you're not going to eat.
Good plan, that about covers it.
What else did you eat?
Squirrel, a lot.
What does that taste like?
O like rubberbands, but better than possom, which tastes a little like cat pee smells.
What's a possom?
A country rat, sorta.
(paused eating, both staring at me, the curled ick faces)
Did my dad eat bear and squirrels there too?
No, he grew up in a condo.
What's a condo?
It's a house that's attached to other houses, so no room for animals running around much.
What do you eat if you grow up in a condo?
Hot dogs.
That must be where we get it from (whew faces).
Must be.

Stick with ice cream? As of today, the truck started bringing it to the curb, where children stand in panic attacks of delight.

Mr. Softee