Driving door to door selling encyclopedias before they were online made me hungry in many ways. Craving money and stability I ate my way through the day. I always had food on the passenger seat so I could nibble while driving. One day I ate a whole quiche using my fingertips to dip into the delicious blend of tastes and dripping all over my clothes.
I was earning $10 too much each month to get food stamps so I ate a lot of Dunkin’ Donuts chocolate glazed munchkins. I especially liked the feel of the crispy coating as my teeth crunched into the spongy dough inside. It satisfied my sweet tooth for awhile and it also increased my immediate desire for something salty and spicy. I had to eat a meatball hero with marinara sauce and lots of cheese.
There was no gps at the time and luckily I found the local pizza parlor. I had to satisfy the intense rising desire and I ordered a large meatball hero with extra cheese. I rushed back to my old Subaru and sunk into the driver’s seat close to the wheel. I tore the paper away and was hungry for that salty high so I chomped into the hero and was devastated when the meatball flew out and fell under the seat. It was wedged between the seat and the divider. Using my nimble fingers I tried hard to find that meatball. My fingers were searching from all angles. I touched it and tried to hold it, ending up with tomato sauce under my fingernails. I didn’t care that I had no napkins as I repositioned the seat forward and back with my greasy fingers. I leaned forward with the remaining hero on my lap reaching for that meatball, all the while imagining how it would taste. I could only smell it as I sadly ate the remaining hero.
The meatball was there forever under my seat. I was reminded of it every time I entered the car because the smell was always there. Years later when I tried to sell the car I was concerned the buyer would know my secret so I sprinkled essential oils under the seat to camouflage the now familiar scent. When I opened the car door to give a test drive I was sure the buyer would know my secret. And when the car finally sold I promised myself never to chomp.