My mother, Rebecca, was walking
over to her brother, Ray’s, school to take him home on a typical Tuesday
afternoon in 1977. She took slow
dragging steps in the hot sun. She was
in no hurry. She felt drowsy, and her
brain couldn’t think straight. She
rarely got enough sleep these days. Most
nights she slept at midnight and woke up at seven. She had to stay up helping do housework, and
finishing her homework. Suddenly, she
jumped and straightened up like popcorn popping in the microwave. She had thought of an idea. She and her brother would steal eggs from
their basket at home. The basket carried
about two dozen eggs. Her mother never
let her and her brother eat full eggs themselves. Even if they did get halves, they were
already spoiled and rotten. They got the
eggs once a month and her mother liked to save them for the end of the
month. Her mother had just brought home
eggs yesterday, so they were still fresh and tasty. She was going to tell my uncle of her scheme.
The street came into view. Many cars were rushing home in rush hour on
this busy street. She waited impatiently, as a red car passes, then a blue,
then a white. She felt like darting across the street, cutting into the long
line of cars passing by. She knew what
danger that would be, so she waited on the sidewalk, even more impatient
now. She felt a strong urge to stay
back, and so she tries to calm down.
Finally a car stops and the person inside allows her to cross
kindly. She waves a “thanks”, and
quickly crosses the street.
Rebecca started running in
excitement. She could already smell the
wonderful warming smell of the egg. She
even tasted the salty and juicy egg in her mouth. As she approached
the school, she hurried Ray out.
She informed him of her scheme and my uncle skipped excitedly. He had never had a whole egg to himself
before. They were going to steal some
from their basket (back then, they did not have refrigerator), and ask a
friend—a neighbor—to fry them. In exchange for her cooking them, they would
give her an egg as well. My uncle can
already taste the salty, juicy egg getting chewed up in his mouth. When he came back to the real world, his
mouth watered tons of spit. Some of his
saliva fell on the ground! My mother
told him to shut his mouth because he was embarrassing her. My uncle was a trouble maker, so he started dripping
more.
Rebecca yelled, “Young man, stop
drooling before I call the police!”
So he started to spit at her.
She screeched, “Eww! That was disgusting!”—and wiped some of it
off her face with her dress—“I am so going to tell on you!” This did the trick! My uncle quickly licked of the spit and
stopped drooling. If his mother found
out, he would be dead as a roasted chicken!
They fast walked home. Their house got clearer and clearer, as they
ran towards it. Their throats ached with
pain by the time they reached the
house. They were panting heavily, and
their faces were shiny with sweat.
My mom told my uncle, “Go grab
three eggs!”
My uncle asks, “Why, three?”
“One for me, one for you, and one
for our friend! Sheesh! How could you not know that? Oh, I know, because you’re my brother!”
“Hey, that’s not nice!”
My mother shouted, “Hurry up! Mom’s gonna be home soon!” Their mother was out shopping, and usually
she got home about half an hour after my uncle and my mom got home. That meant they had about ten minutes to fry
the eggs; ten minutes run there and back; and ten minutes to eat the delicious
eggs.
My uncle shouted back, “Okay! I’m hurrying!
Gosh!” He quickly bolted inside.
He found the basket sitting on the table. He grabbed one, then another, then a
third. The brown, hard eggs felt smooth,
and cool. He savored the moment for a
second; then the eggs turned warm and rather sticky, with his sweat. He ran to the door.
My mother shouted back, “Well, do
you want us to be caught stealing eggs?”
She added quietly, “Even though they are from our own house.”
My uncle ran out holding three
eggs in one fist. The other shut the door.
They run over to a neighbor’s
house. They ask if she can cook the
eggs. She replies with a quick nod, as though
she understands why they’ve come, and hurries to fry the three eggs. They each snatch one and eat gratefully. They feel like they are in heaven—they feel
like they are in paradise. They wish it
could last forever, but it can’t.
They run back home in a dash. As they get in through the back door, the
front door opens. The back door of the house shuts just as the front door
opens. Rebecca and Ray just stand there
awkwardly, not knowing what to do. They
must have seemed weird to be standing next to the back door next to each
other. Her mom drops all the groceries
on the floor. She sighs and brushes some
hair out of her face. She has dark
circles under her eyes. She seems tired
but suddenly jumps up. My uncle and mom
think she knows of their escape to the neighbor, but she just says excitedly
that they can each have an egg for dinner, because their father got promoted at
work! He had done a good job with
getting all his work done. He also
worked for longer than needed almost every day.
They all dance happily. Rebecca
is jumping around with excitement, Ray is running around hollering excitedly,
and their mom watching and even doing a little victory dance herself; but this
victory would end soon.
As my grandmother starts to cook
the eggs, she asks how their day was.
They said that it was great, and they only had a bit of homework left to
do. Suddenly, she yelps! My mom and her brother snap their heads
over. They seem surprised, as nothing is
really even there. My grandmother says
there has been a robber stealing the eggs.
She says she took out four eggs, and there are only seventeen left. My mother shushes my uncle with a loud
cough-ish-sneeze-“ahem” type thing, as he is about to confess that it was their
fault.
My mother covers it up, by saying,
“Oh, no! What if the robber took other
stuff like our money?”
My uncle catches on and says in an
overly dramatic voice, “What if he kidnaps me, and sends ransom notes to you
guys?!”
Their mom says, “Calm down—let’s
just hope the robber doesn’t come back again.
Go lock all the doors and windows of the house. That will help keep the house safe.”
My grandmother has a suspicion
that they took those three eggs, so she says, “Actually, I am just going to
cook an egg for Dad. I think he deserves
it, since he was the one who got promoted.
I also feel that we need to save the eggs, since the robber might steal
more. I am going to hide the basket
somewhere, where nobody will know where it is.”
My mom asks, “Can we help?”
My grandmother blurts out, “Sure,
if you don’t steal your own eggs that you could have got if you didn’t steal
them!”
My mom and uncle say in unison,
“What?”
My grandmother says, “I knew you
stole those eggs, when I counted. I had
a feeling you were going to since I just got them. You better not steal anymore eggs young
lady! And you, too!”
My mother explains quickly her
point of view. She also says that her
brother came along, but it was all her idea.
Her mother forgives them, and cooks an egg for each of them for dinner.
