🍜 DE CHINESE RESTAURANT ADVENTURE
A Speedeet & Wilar Story from Pike Street, Kitty
“Speedeet! SPEEDEET!”
Wilar come running down Pike Street like somebody chasing he with a cutlass. But he face wasn’t scared — he face was EXCITED.
“Wha happen?” Speedeet look up from de marble game he was winning against Little Sanjay.
“Me uncle know de man who own de Chinese restaurant! De one next to Kitty Cinema church on Alexander Street!”
Speedeet eyes get big. EVERYBODY know dat restaurant. De smell alone could make you forget you had lunch already.
“So?”
“SO? He say he could carry we inside! INSIDE de kitchen!”
Little Sanjay marble roll away forgotten. Speedeet was already on he feet.
“Leh we go!”
🚶 DE WALK TO ALEXANDER STREET
De two boys walk fast-fast down de road. Wilar uncle, Mr. Doodnauth, was waiting by de restaurant door looking important.
“Alright boys, Mr. Chen say we could go in de back. But NO TOUCHING. You hear me? NO. TOUCHING.”
“Yes Uncle,” Wilar say, all innocent.
Speedeet just nod. He fingers already twitching.
Mr. Chen appear at de door — a small man with a big smile and a apron that look like it see more battles than de Guyana Defence Force.
“Ah! Doodnauth! Come, come! Bring de boys!”
And just so, dey was IN.
🍗 DE KITCHEN
Speedeet thought he know what a kitchen look like. He mother kitchen had a stove, a pot, and sometimes a lizard on de wall.
DIS was something else.
Rows and ROWS of chicken hanging neat-neat on racks. Golden brown. Glistening. Looking like dey posing for a photograph.
“Oh gosh…” Speedeet whisper.
De SMELL hit he like a wave. Garlic. Ginger. Soy sauce. Something sweet. Something savory. All of it mixing together into one beautiful cloud dat wrap around he brain and squeeze.
“You boys hungry?” Mr. Chen ask, already knowing de answer.
Wilar nod so hard he glasses nearly fly off.
🥡 DE TASTING
Mr. Chen start pulling out dish after dish.
Sweet and sour pork. Wilar couldn’t eat dat, but Speedeet demolished it.
Chicken chow mein. Both boys attack it like dey never see food before.
Fried wontons. Gone in seconds.
And then…
Mr. Chen bring out a big plate of fried rice.
“Dis,” he say with pride, “is me SPECIAL Chop Suey Fried Rice. Secret recipe.”
Speedeet look at de rice. It had everything. Chicken pieces. Vegetables. Egg. Shrimp.
And something else.
Something… unfamiliar.
👀 DE DISCOVERY
Speedeet was shoveling rice into he mouth when he fork hit something strange.
He look down.
He squint.
He lean closer.
“Wilar…”
“Wha?”
“Wilar, look at dis.”
Wilar push up he glasses and peer into Speedeet plate.
Sitting right there, mixed in with de rice and de vegetables and de regular chicken pieces…
Was a CHICKEN HEAD.
Complete with de little red comb on top.
“OH GOSH!” Wilar jump back like de head was gon bite he.
Speedeet just stare at it.
De chicken head stare back.
Well, not really. De eyes was closed. But it FELT like it was staring.
🤔 DE DECISION
Mr. Doodnauth and Mr. Chen was deep in conversation by de freezer, not paying attention.
Wilar was backing away slow-slow. “Speedeet, put it down. PUT IT DOWN.”
But Speedeet mind was racing.
He had eat chicken leg before. Chicken wing. Chicken breast. Chicken back. He mother even make chicken foot soup one time.
But chicken HEAD?
Dis was new territory.
Dis was ADVENTURE.
“Wilar,” Speedeet say slowly, “you ever eat chicken head before?”
“NO! And I not starting today!”
Speedeet look at de head again. De little comb was actually kinda crispy looking. Like a tiny red chip.
He think about all de times he tell Wilar to be brave. All de times he say “Nothing ventured, nothing gained.” All de times he climb de mango tree first.
How he could call heself SPEEDEET — de bravest boy on Pike Street — if he scared of a little chicken head?
Besides, de comb was looking kinda interesting. Soft. Reddish. Like a little rubbery crown.
😋 DE MOMENT OF TRUTH
Speedeet take a deep breath.
He pick up de chicken head with he fork.
Wilar cover he eyes. “I can’t watch. I CAN’T WATCH.”
Speedeet open he mouth.
And he eat it.
…
…
…
“Well?” Wilar peek through he fingers.
Speedeet was chewing. Slow. Thoughtful. Like a food critic on TV.
He eyes get wide.
De comb wasn’t crispy like he expected. It was SOFT. Chewy. Like nothing he ever taste before. It had dis unusual texture dat bounce around in he mouth — rubbery but in a GOOD way. He chew on it delightfully, exploring every bit of de strange new sensation.
“It… it actually NICE,” he say, genuinely surprised.
“WHAT?!”
“De comb soft and chewy like… like… I don’t even know what to compare it to! And de rest taste like regular chicken but more… more CHICKENY. But dat COMB, Wilar! De texture! It like chewing on a little piece of magic!”
Wilar look like he was gon faint.
Speedeet grin and take another big scoop of de fried rice.
“Wilar, you missing out. Dis is de best fried rice I ever eat in me life!”
🏃 DE AFTERMATH
When dey finally leave de restaurant, Speedeet belly was FULL and he mind was BLOWN.
“Wilar, you know what dis mean?”
“Dat you crazy?”
“No! It mean we been eating chicken WRONG dis whole time! We been throwing away de best parts!”
Wilar shake he head. “Speedeet, I not eating no chicken head. Not today. Not tomorrow. Not EVER.”
“Suit yourself.” Speedeet pat he belly satisfied. “More for me.”
Dey walk back toward Pike Street, de afternoon sun warm on dey backs.
“You know,” Wilar say after a while, “you really eat dat thing, eh?”
“Yup.”
“De whole head?”
“De WHOLE head. Comb and all.”
Wilar was quiet for a moment. Den he start to laugh.
“Speedeet, you is really something else, you know dat?”
Speedeet grin. “Dat’s why dey call me SPEEDEET, bai. First to try everything. Scared of NOTHING.”
“Except Miss Doreen.”
“…Except Miss Doreen. But dat woman have a BROOM.”
🍚 DE LESSON
Dat night, Speedeet lay in he bed thinking about de day.
He had seen de inside of a real Chinese restaurant kitchen. He had taste dishes he never even know existed. He had eat a CHICKEN HEAD and live to tell de tale.
And dat comb? Dat soft, chewy, unusual comb? He was STILL thinking about de texture. How it bounce in he mouth. How different it was from anything else he ever eat.
Life was full of surprises, he realize. You never know what you gon find when you brave enough to try something new.
Even if dat something new got a little red comb on top.
He smile in de darkness.
Tomorrow, he would tell de whole Pike Street crew about he adventure. Little Sanjay wouldn’t believe he. Keisha would say he lying. Ravi would probably dare he to do it again.
And he would.
Because dat’s what Speedeet do.
He go first.
He try everything.
He eat de chicken head.
And he enjoy every bite.
THE END
Next time on Speedeet & Wilar: De boys discover what REALLY in de black pudding at de market. Wilar might never eat again.
Speedeet & Wilar are two 12-year-old best friends from Pike Street, Kitty, Georgetown. Speedeet is the brave one who jumps first. Wilar is the careful one who thinks twice. Together, they get into — and out of — all kinds of trouble. Their stories are written in authentic Guyanese Creolese.
📚 Want more adventures? The Speedeet & Wilar book series is available on Amazon!