After a very long day at school, I usually screen my mother’s phone calls and decline the experience of an evening conversation with her. However, when she calls twice in a row I am instantly panicked at the possibility of total disaster awaiting me on the other end of the line when I finally answer. ANYTHING COULD BE WRONG! Heart rate rises; stomach knots.
Tonight she must have perceived my interest in an immediate I-AM-NOT-BLEEDING-IN-AN-ALLEY disclosure, and started off cheerfully with, “I have some weird news and some fun news! I’ll start with the fun news… “.
She then described an adventure of being randomly invited into a local DICE GAME in the garage of a local bachelor in ”the neighborhood”, complete with a home-built full-bar, and culminating in a net win of $28 after hours of game play. WATCH OUT NOW! She and the host compared stories of their childhoods in Detroit and when I cautiously suggested they were flirting, she said, “Oh no! I didn’t think of that until today!”. BALONEY.
Now, when I picture a dice game, the backdrop isn’t exactly a suburban mobile home community, nor a group of folks INCLUDING MY MOTHER in their mid-50’s. However, she assured me that this was the most fun she’s had in ages, and that on the third Wednesday of every month, she will return and enjoy the neighborly camaraderie and RAW THRILL of dicing with some new friends in the ‘hood. What an organized group of graying gangsters.
All this time, I thought the cutest thing going on in my parents’ lives was that I can now text message my father for the first time EVER. I’m not sure he knows how to send them back, but let’s just say that things have been on the up and up for them both over the past few weeks and I pray that this arc continues.
