No Money for Chicken Nuggets

The first fight that I heard my parents have was about money. I was deep in my sleep dreaming about eating chicken nuggets. I absolutely LOVED chicken nuggets. It was all I wanted to eat when I was little. However, I was always afraid to ask for chicken nuggets because we never had enough money. My expectations were so low that when my parents would surprise me with nuggets, it was like the best day of my life. 

My parents are from the Democratic Republic of Congo, and are both very intelligent, educated, and accomplished people, but they did not grow up in the United States and I used this to my advantage. If I wanted them to buy me something, I would say it was for school. Being that they were hardcore when it came to education, they took my word for it when I made them buy me things when I said it was for school. I still cackle at how much I got away with. My cousins, who came after me,  started doing this same thing and I was quick to call them out. If I wanted shoes, I'd lie and say I needed them for school; If I wanted a book, a shirt, a certain toy, I lied and said I needed it  for school. I was becoming a very good liar, but my conscience started to take over.

Anyway, I was dreaming that we were at McDonald's. As I was deep in my dream, I could overhear my parents in the next room arguing about how we did not have enough money to pay for the mortgage. They were yelling so loud that it woke me up. I knew at that moment that I wouldn't be getting my chicken nuggets. Lol. There were many more fights after that. Some I remember, some I don't. But that one fight, I will never forget. 

There were many more arguments about the money we didn't have and with that came moments without electricity. Lying to get what I wanted slowly began to weigh on me. There was a time when we had no power and my Dad rigged a black and silver battery operated radio with aluminum foil on the antennas just so we could listen to the OJ Simpson trial. We all sat around that radio, oil lamps and candles surrounding us; I thought it was fun at the time and didn't think anything of it. You would never believe me if I told you the number of times our electricity was turned off. A lot of our family and friends had no clue. It was always on when they visited. We were having some rough times, but we had to make the best of them. And if there was one person who knew how to make the best out of a rough time, it was my Mom.

One time we didn't have electricity and my Mom walked my little sister and I around Kmart  for hours until closing time. Just before we went back home she bought a small pan pizza from Little Caesars for us to share.  I thought it was the best day ever! By the time we got home, we were too tired to even think about not having electricity.

This is not my family, but this is exactly how we were. LOL

In the winter, with no heat, Mom would get all the blankets we owned and set them up in our living room like a camp. When we finally got the electricity back, she bought electric blankets from the thrift store--washed them twice-- and all of us: parents, sister, three cousins, aunt and  two uncles would camp out.The only heat we had was from the stove and oven that stayed on all night. Damn! How did we survive that!? 

Early in life I decided that I hated money. The little money we did get, was always going to bills. We never had enough money for all the bills, so we alternated between the necessary utilities each month. Every time he opened a bill my Dad would say "Oh, come on! They taking money out of my pocket!" Imagine the dad from Everybody Hates Chris, except African with glasses. That was my Dad. Soon, I stopped asking for things and I didn't want to talk about money because money made my parents fight and I hated that. 

I began to accept the fact that since we had no money, I would never have my chicken nuggets.