My mother and her brother

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.