Meatball Mania

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 a while 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.