This Is Us

In summer, Mom got a tub of water and Life Boy soap. She and Aunt Hazel scrubbed us kids till we were almost raw. My cousins Donna and Johnnie were there a lot in summer. Aunt Hazel could drive. She took us to the orchard a lot to pick grapes, apples and peaches. They sat out under our old tree beside our house and ate the pickings. After they finished it was time to scrub ears. Aunt Hazel would scrub Johnnie’s ears so hard they were red. She said: “Get over here. Them rusty things.” He would just frown and cry: “Wait, wait…” and she got them clean. Our little gang ran all over town. One day, Naomi and I went behind a store that was moving. I was going through some boxes. Naomi said: “Leave them.” I opened a little box and there was a five-dollar bill inside. We ran fast to our house to show Mom. She said: “Give it to me. When I go to Salvation Army on Saturday, I will get you some clothes.” I told Naomi outside we should have just blown it. Naomi agreed but we knew it was best just to let Mom have it.