All-In

Bou, I call your roach in the bed and I'm All-In with a roach in the back of my knee.

My grandparents on my mother's side were very poor. Neither could work due to disabilities and what money they did have was spent on a Bingo addiction. Grandma used to believe that when her left hand was itching, it meant she was going to get money. We'd often hear, "Don, my hand is itching. I need you to drive me to Bingo." There was a different place for Bingo each night. It's kind of funny now.

After my parents divorced, I went to live with my grandparents for a little while. I was obviously expected to contribute by completing chores and such. My assigned chore - dishes. I hated them! Not for the typical reasons, but because I had little helpers that hung out around the kitchen sink. I would move a dish and roaches would scurry. I would put away dishes and disturb their homes in the cabinets.

It gets worse.

We lived in a single-wide trailer with only 2 bedrooms. One room was for my grandparents and the other was for my uncle and his son and then my other uncle slept on the couch. That meant, I got the floor. I had a little pallet that I'd make in the middle of the living room floor.

It was common for me to toss, turn and feel a bit itchy. And then there was the morning I woke up and wiped the back of my knee to find a smooshed dead roach. Yep, a roach. He must have got caught up in my tossing and turning.

I am thoroughly disgusted still to this day.

I moved back to my mother's at the end of the school year.