Chiggars

Tony says, “don’t sit on the grass, you  might get chiggers.”  Chiggers cause giggles, why that sounds ridiculous. 

“What are chiggers?”  I ask. 

“They are kind of like ticks, they crawl under your skin and make you itch really bad until they die.” 

 This fascinates me.  We walk through the church garden, past the roses, into a ivy lined gazebo.

 “How long does it take for them to die?”  I ask like a curious child.

 “A couple of days.”  He tells me. 

I continue on the subject matter.  The thought of bugs crawling under skin itching and scratching for a couple of days just because I sat in grass consumes me.  My arm starts to itch. 

“Tony!  I think I have a jigger.”  I tell him. 

“No, Lola, you aren’t fishing, they’re called chiggers.”  He says in his calm tone that declares he’s clearly annoyed with the chigger questions, but I’m not done yet. 

I have recently discovered my obsession compulsion disorder and I think that this falls under the category.  When I was a kid and would see a car accident; I had to know what happened.  I’d ask my parents as we drove by a wreckage “what happened car? What happened car?”  If they didn’t tell me the chant would continue until they would either make up a story or hush me with the typical “Damn it, Lola!”  And if I was really annoying it was “GOD damn it, Lola!”  I just wanted to know what happened car. 

Back to chiggers.  “I don’t believe such bugs exist and that you can’t see them, how can you not see them, I want to see one.”  I tell him.  I am staring down at the grass. Surely one will appear. 

“No, they are like mites.”  He tells me. 

“Why aren’t they in beds then?”  He shakes his head.  He attempts to dissuade me from the chiggers and we walk somewhere else, I keep moving him to my left side. 

“Why do you keep moving me to the left?” 

I tell him I have to walk on the right side of people. 

Or, in the middle if there are three people. 

If I can’t walk in the middle between the two other people,

            I can walk on the right, if they won’t let me,

I will walk backward or behind.  If he won’t let me walk on the right side of him, I will have to walk ahead to the right of him or behind him.  He looks at me sideways and lets me go forward to the right. 

“So these chiggers…”