Getting Too Greedy

A couple of years ago, my family and I went to Lorain, Ohio to visit my Grandma Mollie. We went to her house on a Friday, and we had planned to be there till Sunday. On Friday, we pretty much enjoyed each other’s company, had some pizza and watched a movie. Luckily, my grandma didn’t have to work on Saturday, so that meant tomorrow would be a day of fun with her.

On Saturday, my Grandma Mollie had gotten up early to make everybody breakfast. My grandma loves baking cookies and making breakfast. It’s literally her bread and butter. It’s like her happy place, the same way writing is for me. She has this passion for baking that I’ve always admired and respected with her. One time, I remember my grandma was making dozens of cookies late at night to sell at a church convention. She’s truly dedicated to one of her many crafts and seeing her dedication was always an inspiration to me. My grandma illustrated to me the importance of constantly working on your craft by her always wanting to bake cookies and make breakfast.

Anyways, my grandma typically makes breakfast for 30-40 people because she always invites uncles, aunts, cousins and family friends to her house to eat breakfast. My grandma really enjoys the company of other people, especially family and friends. Breakfast at Grandma Mollie’s ended up lasting till 2:00, and a lot of my family would leave and thank my grandma for the food. After people leave, my family and I begin the next phase of our day with Grandma Mollie. Games.

Just like movies, playing games is always something that I value with my Grandma Mollie. We played Scattergories, Apples to Apples, Phase 10, Heads Up and many other games. Then, the real game came along when my Grandma Mollie suggested playing Greedy. A game that would lead to betrayal, heartache, disappointment, humiliation and greed.

For those who don’t know, Greedy is a 20-dice game. You can play with as many people as you want, and the goal is to get to 50,000 points before anyone else. You roll 20 dice in your hand, and a certain amount of dice get you a certain amount of points.

Three dice of 1’s=1,000

Three dice of 6’s=600

Three dice of 5’s=500

Three dice of 4’s=400

Three dice of 3’s=300

Three dice of 2’s=200

One die of 1=100

One die of 5=50

The numbers up above are the only way you can get points. For example, a die of 6 will not get you any points because you need a set (three dice of 6’s) to get points. Only a die of one or five can get you added points. Also, you have to roll down to three dice. Once you roll down to three dice, you can have your score be written down on the paper and it will be the next person’s turn.

However, you can be greedy and keep rolling till you have no dice. For example, if I have two dice in my hand, then one or both of those dice have to end up being a one or a five because that’s the only way I can get points. So, if I roll a five and a four, the five gets counted and it would get added to my score. Then, I would have one die left. If I choose to be greedy, my last die would have to be a one or a five. If I roll a one or a five, then I would have those points added to my score, and I would get to roll all 20 dice again and add more to my score. However, if I don’t roll a one or a five, then I would lose all my points that I gained in my roll, and it would be the next person’s turn. The term I would be for losing all of my points is set.

In addition, you can be set if you roll your dice off the table and stack your dice three times.

Now that you hopefully have an understanding of the rules, let’s get back to the story.

So, my family and I gathered at my Grandma Mollie’s big table to play the 20-dice game known as Greedy. It was me, my Grandma Mollie, my Aunt Rachael, my Aunt Bev, my mom and dad, my cousin Alvin and my brother Isaac. I ended up getting to roll first. I had all 20 dice in my hand, and I rolled it all on my grandma’s slippery table.

The person to the left of you counts the dice for you, and that person ended up being my Grandma Mollie. I ended up getting 2 sets of one’s (2,000), a set of six (600), a set of five (500) one die of five (50) and two dice of one’s (200). I ended up being left with five dice in my hand. On your first roll, it doesn’t matter how many dice you have in your hands, you just have to have at least 2,500 points on your first roll. My first roll total was 3,350, so I elected to not be greedy. It was a pretty good roll for me, and it would be just the beginning of me flourishing in this game of Greedy.

Now, I’ll admit that I’m a very competitive person. I love winning, no matter what. I’ll also admit that back in the day that I was not a humble winner either. I liked to talk a lot after I won something, and I was just not a gracious winner. Thankfully, I’ve improved myself a lot and started becoming a somewhat more humble winner. I still trash talk here there, but I’m more kind and sweet to others when I win. Unfortunately, I was just a unnecessary, greedy, competitive person when I was playing Greedy at my Grandma Mollie’s house.

Anyways, I was rolling in Greedy. No pun intended. I had a commanding start and lead to Greedy, while everyone else was struggling. I was literally cooking and dominating, and I was naturally talking smack. I was talking about how I’m the greatest, the legend and the myth in Greedy, and nobody could touch me. My Aunt Bev has this catchphrase in Greedy when she got what she wanted. She would say “Haaaaambuuuurger.” So, I thought to myself, “Since I’m murdering my family in Greedy, it’s only natural that I have a catchphrase of my own. I’m so great in Greedy like my idol Muhammad Ali is in boxing that I had to have a signature, clever catchphrase. A catchphrase that would fit me and who I was.”

All of a sudden, it came to me. My Grandma Mollie ended up getting set, so I looked at my grandma, smiled and enthusiastically said, “There ya go.”

My grandma didn’t understand. Then, I started doing it to everyone else when they rolled the dice off the table or got set, I smiled at them and enthusiastically said, “There ya go.”

My Grandma Mollie and others were annoyed with my catchphrase, but they couldn’t help but laugh at it because it was so good. The way I said and my consistency to say it was hilarious to my grandma, mom and Aunt Bev. My grandma was talking about how I was about to lose this game of Greedy because I was being too cocky. Also, she said, “Oh, I can’t wait to say ‘there ya go’ to you when you start losing your luck in this game.”

I thought my grandma was being foolish because I was just too hot. I wasn’t slowing down at all, and I was having a historic game of Greedy. I was like the 73-9 Warriors team. I was just dominating and rolling lights out all game long. Now, I say the 73-9 Warriors team because I ended up choking and blowing a great lead that I had in Greedy.

I had 47,500 points and all I needed was 2,500 points to win. It was my roll, and I ended up talking about how it was great game that we played. I talked about how they were all worthy opponents, but they just couldn’t stop the legend that I am in Greedy. Isaac yelled, “Will you be quiet and roll?”

I was laughing, and I ended up rolling two of the dice off the table. I was in shock. Then, everyone started laughing. I was muttering wait, but everyone was laughing. My Aunt Bev said, “Nope, it’s your grandma’s turn now. You messed up, Isaiah. Haaaambuuurger.”

Then, my grandma asked me to look at her, and I did. Then, she said, “There ya go.”

Everyone was laughing, and I was just shaking my head at how naïve they were being. I said, “It’s fine, I’m just trying to give y’all a chance, honestly. I’m so far ahead, I’m cool and thriving.”

Eventually, it was my turn again, and my brother Isaac was the closest person to stopping me. He was only 5,300 points away from getting 50,000. Naturally, I’m not nervous because he needs at least two rolls to get to 50,000. Anyways, I roll the 20 dice and I end up getting 2,350 points. I had five dice in my hand, so I still had to roll. I rolled and I ended up getting two five’s in that roll. I was at 2,450 points. Now, I could’ve decided to be done because I was done to three dice now, however I decided that I wanted to be Greedy. The reason is because I only needed 50 points to win the game. Surely, I could easily roll a one or five in these three dice I thought to myself. There was no way that I was going to be set, I thought to myself. I told my family that I’m about to win this game now because there comes a time where one must be greedy, and this is one of those times. I said, “Y’all played good, but y’all are just no match for the greatness that I am. Please, remember this moment. Please, remember that I am the legend, the myth, the great and the greatest known as Isaiah Warfield.”

I did a little bit more talking, and I eventually rolled the three dice that I had. All I needed was a one or a five. To my disappointment, I ended up rolling a two, a three and a four. I was devastated. Everyone at the table was laughing at me. They were so mean. What did I do to deserve getting made fun of? I looked to my Grandma Mollie for some support for her first-born grandson, but I got the exact opposite. She looked at me, smiled and enthusiastically said, “There ya go.”

Then, I said to everyone at the table, “Hey, I’m still ahead. I just another roll, and I’ll be good. I’m still about to win this game.”

Sadly, I was mistaken. It was my brother’s turn, and he ended up rolling and getting 2,800 points. He was left with four dice. I was thinking to myself, “Alright, he’ll probably get his points, but I’ll have the opportunity to get my points.”

To my surprise, Isaac ended up rolling a set of six (three 6’s) and a one. Isaac yelled, “Let’s go!!!”

It made his total 3,500 points. With no more dice to roll, he ended up getting a chance to roll again and add to his total. I was stunned. He was now 1,800 points away from beating me.

Everyone, except me, was cheering him on. They were telling him that he could do it. My Grandma Mollie, “Come on, Isaac, you can do it. I’ll take you winning over this joker that’s been talking too much all game.”

I couldn’t believe my grandma wanted Isaac to win more than me. The betrayal was real to me. Anyways, my brother ended up rolling all 20 dice and getting 2,400 points. My brother had enough points to beat me, however he had four dice in his hands. He had to roll again. I was praying to God that Isaac wouldn’t get a one, a five or a set, but God sadly disappointed me. Isaac rolled all four dice, and he ended up rolling a six, a three, a two and a one. My brother’s total ended up being 6,000 points, and his total score was 50,700 points. My brother had won the game of Greedy that I was meant to win.

My whole family at the table congratulated my brother Isaac, then they started mocking me with my own catchphrase and other things. Ashamed and humiliated, I ran away from the table in defeat. I wasn’t a winner, I was a loser. I wasn’t a legend, I was a phony. I wasn’t the greatest, I was the worst. I wasn’t the truth, I was the lie. I didn’t live up to the hype. I choked like the 73-9 Warriors team did against the Cleveland Cavaliers in the NBA Finals. I blew a lead that I had like the Warriors blew a 3-1 lead. I hate the Warriors, and I’m ashamed that I was just like them in this game of Greedy.

This game of Greedy really taught me the importance of sitting down and being humble. I look back at this moment, and I just can’t help but laugh about it, especially with my Grandma Mollie. In the end, I’m grateful for the memory of that heart-breaking game of Greedy that I had with my Grandma Mollie.

This is the end of “Getting Too Greedy.”

This weekend, I will be posting two poems on Saturday and Sunday.

Movies With My Grandma

Last year, my Grandma Mollie came from Lorain, Ohio, to visit me and my family in Pittsburgh. I remember we were all sitting in the living room laughing and talking, while I had the remote in my hand. As I was flipping through all of the channels, I quickly noticed that there was a certain movie on AMC that I love with a passion. That movie was The Matrix.

The Matrix is my favorite movie of all time, and it’s just a known fact that it’s the greatest movie of all time. That’s right, a fact. It’s got everything you need in a movie from the story, the symbolism, the suspense, the action, the horror, the mystery, the sci-fi, the characters (Trinity, Neo, Cypher, Morpheus, Agent Smith, the Oracle), the romance, the philosophy, the faith, the deliverance, the free will and so much more. I ask you to name another movie that has all of that and more? Can you name another iconic movie? No, you can’t. And do you know why, you can’t name another movie? Because there’s only one, and that movie is The Matrix, the greatest movie of all time.

Anyways, I’m so excited to see my movie on TV, so I naturally put it on AMC. My little brother Isaac looks up to see what I put on, and he starts to groan. He yells, “Oh God, can we not have it on this god-awful movie.”

Naturally, I was appalled by Isaac’s disrespectful words to this work of art. Before I could say anything, my dad said, “Yeah, I agree. I’m not trying see some terrible acting by Keanu Reeves.”

In my mind, I’m saying to myself, “Oh no they didn’t. I know they didn’t just dog my movie like that. Why do they do this to me? Why do they always have to disrespect my movie when it’s on TV? Why do they force to defend the greatness that is The Matrix?”

Naturally, I went off on them. First, I went at Isaac talking about how he had no right to be saying The Matrix was awful when he had never even seen it before, but that didn’t stop him from talking. Then, I told my dad that Keanu’s acting was perfect and just the right amount for the movie. “Isaiah, he barely showed any emotion. His acting was poor with his blank stares.Will Smith would’ve done so much better as Neo, my dad added.”

I responded, “No, Keanu was being realistic. I probably would’ve acted the same way too if I found out I was in a computer simulation for all my life. I sure wouldn’t be dramatic like Will Smith and yell, ‘No, no, no,’ at some mannequin like he did in I Am Legend. Just being way too dramatic. No, The Matrix is a realistic movie with everything and a hint of drama, it’s not a full-on drama.”

My brother, dad and I continued to argue for ten more minutes. My mom ended up betraying me and saying The Matrix wasn’t the greatest movie of all time. My sisters just kept laughing, while my Grandma Mollie was silent. Eventually, we stopped arguing, and I was able to watch a little bit of my movie and recite some of the lines. While I was watching this masterpiece, my brother interrupted my moment of bliss and said, “This movie is trash, and it’s kind of sad that you know every single line in this movie.”

Before I could say anything, my Grandma Mollie came to the rescue. She said, “Now, y’all leave my baby alone. He’s been loving this movie since he was three years old. Let my baby watch his movie in peace, please.”

It’s true, I have loved The Matrix since I was three years old. I remember my grandma introduced the movie to me when I was three years old. She told me how I really loved the movie, and it just always held a special place in my heart. I loved Neo. I would always imitate him, and it used to annoy my mom. My grandma told me that there was this one time where my mom had whooped me hard for doing something bad. I don’t remember what I did, but it was brutal whooping. After my mom was done whooping me, I had gotten up and said “Momma.” My mom turned around, I looked into her eyes and said, “How did you beat me?”

My mom had this confused look on her face, but my grandma was rolling. Then, I extended my right arm and motioned with my right hand to come on and bring it. My mom said, “What in the world is my baby doing?”

My grandma was still laughing like crazy, and she explained, “Well, we’ve been watching the Matrix, and he’s imitating scenes from the movie. Morpheus asking Neo how he beat him in the training simulation, and Neo telling Agent Smith to bring it in the Subway fight. Those two scenes.”

My grandma continued laughing, but my mom was still annoyed. I think she gave me another whooping because I asked for it, but I’m not sure entirely. However, The Matrix would be the beginning of my grandma and I watching movies together.

Since I was three years old, my grandma and I watched hundreds of movies together. There was always just something sacred about watching movies with my grandma. It was just special, quality time with her. I remember we watched The Lord of the Rings trilogy together, and I was just so confused with the story. I had no idea what was going on. I was really young when I saw it, but my grandma made the trilogy special for me. She would take the time to talk to me about what was going on in the movie, and she really helped me understand the plot of everything. My Grandma Mollie did so good with me that I started imitating Gollum to the delight of my grandma.

I remember my grandma and I used to watch Never Been Kissed starring Drew Barrymore a lot. It was our movie for some reason. Just like The Matrix, Never Been Kissed was just a classic for me and my grandma. My grandma was just a huge Drew Barrymore fan, and I ended up becoming one as well thanks to her. Every time we watched Never Been Kissed, it just blew our minds that Drew’s character had never been in a relationship or never been kissed. It was mind-boggling to us.

There’s just so many memories of my grandma and I just watching movies together with her homemade cookies, sweets, candy, junk food and other unhealthy substitutes. Never vegetables thank God. I’m always going to cherish those movies that we watched together because it just shows how much she truly cares about me. She devoted time and energy to be one of the most fun-loving, kind and supportive people in my life. She always puts a smile on my face, makes me laugh with her jokes and just knows how to make me feel special and wanted. Not a lot of people have that effect on me, and I’m just so grateful that I have someone like my Grandma Mollie to do that for me. She’s done so much for me that she doesn’t know about, and I can’t imagine what life would be like without her. I love my grandma so much, and I’m so grateful that I can continue to watch movies with my grandma.

This is the end of “Movies with My Grandma.”

On Thursday, I will be posting and sharing “Getting Greedy.”

An Interesting Day at PetSmart

A couple of years ago, I was working part time at PetSmart. I was an early morning stocker and cashier. My shifts varied during that job from 5am-10am (early morning stocking), 2pm-7pm (cashier) and 3pm-9pm (cashier). In the month of July, my managers decided to just have me working 5am-10am because they needed me more as an early morning stocker. They asked me if that was an issue, but I told them that it was fine. I didn’t mind just working in the mornings. In fact, I was excited to just work as just an early morning stocker.

In the early morning shift, I just worked with two people. I worked with my manager Jim and my coworker Chris. Jim would work by himself with manager stuff, while Chris and I worked together on getting everything stocked from cat litter, cat food, dog food, toys, crates, treats and other things. We had about four hours to stock everything we needed (5am-9am), then we had a 30-minute lunch and 30 minutes to clean up. It varied if we got everything stocked or not in time. It just depended on how much we had to stock. Also, Chris and I talked and joked around a lot, and this also effected if we got everything stocked in time. However, my first day starting as primarily an early morning stocker was a day like no other.

It was a Monday morning, and I was at PetSmart at 4:55 am. A few minutes later, Chris had arrived. Chris and I had to wait for Jim to arrive because the store was locked, and he had the keys to the store. We’re both in our cars and on our phones just waiting for Jim to come. Ten minutes pass, and Jim’s not at PetSmart. Twenty minutes pass, and he’s still not here. Thirty minutes pass, and Chris and I are wondering what’s going on. We get out of our cars, and I asked him what’s going on. Chris said, “I don’t know, but Jim’s late, man.”

We were both hoping nothing bad happened to him, and Chris wondered if another manager was supposed to be working with us. I showed him the schedule on my phone to show that Jim was scheduled to work with us. Chris started rubbing his eyes and said, “Alright, I’ll just shoot him text and see what’s going on.”

He texted Jim, “Yo where u at?”

A few minutes later, he laughed and texted, “U up lol?”

He started giggling, and I couldn’t help but shake my head and giggle with him. Ten minutes passed, and there was still no response. I looked at and Chris said, “Well, let’s try calling him.”

We tried calling him, but there was no answer. It was 6:00 am now, and we were contemplating if we were able to leave or not. Five minutes later, Chris gets a text from our manager Jim. It read, “Hey fellas, I forgot to set my alarm and my phone was on silent. Whoopsies! I’ll be there in 30 mins.”

Chris and I started laughing because we saw the word “Whoopsies.” We kept joking around and saying that now he can’t be mad at us if we were 10-15 minutes late to work. Also, we were joking about how we could just use this against him.

It was 6:45 when Jim arrived at work. When Jim got out of his car, Chris yelled, “Hey sleeping beauty, did you get enough sleep?”

Everyone laughed, and Chris explained that he didn’t know what happened. His wife ended up waking him up. We all laughed as we all walked inside PetSmart, clocked in and headed to the back room. Chris assured us that he would make sure that we get our two other hours for coming in on time, and we thanked him. When we made it to the backroom, we saw that there was a lot to stock. Also, we only had two hours to stock everything. Jim looked at us and said, “Alright look, I’m not expecting yinz to get all this stocked in two hours. Just get as much as you can done, and we’ll just have to figure this all out later.”

After Jim said all of this, he left the backroom and went to his office. Chris and I looked at each other, and we were so excited because we pretty much had a free day. We didn’t have to feel rushed or anything, and it was gonna be a fun day at work. We only had to work for two hours and thirty minutes.

Chris and I started working, and we were just two happy campers. We’re smiling, talking and having a great time together. Chris was talking about his iFunny page with me, and some interesting memes. It was all sunshine and rainbows, until Chris came at me with a thunderstorm.

It’s around 8:00, and we were stocking dog food. All of sudden, he remembered something. He told me that he forgot to mention something interesting to me. I asked him what, and he explained that last week a cute girl was asking about me on Friday. I was excited and wanted to hear more. Chris said, “Yeah man, she was fine. Her body was popping, her booty was looking right. Everything was just on point, my man. She was such a cutie.”

Chris was really hyping her up for me, and I just wanted to know more. Chris continued, “Yeah man, she was talking about how sweet and cute you were, and she just wanted you to have her number.”

After he said that, we both got excited and started clapping our hands and jumping up an down. It was a great moment we shared together, and all I needed was the number to solidify this moment. So, I said, “Alright bro, let me get them digits.”

Suddenly, Chris stopped jumping, made a face and said, “Yeah, about that. I actually didn’t get the number.”

I stopped jumping and clapping, and I asked him what did he mean. He replied, “Well, I just didn’t get the number. It just never came up in our conversation.”

“Conversation? How long were y’all talking together?” I asked.

“Like a good five minutes,” he said.

“Wow, so you were talking to this goddess that wants me for five minutes, and you somehow don’t have the necessary information I need to pursue this girl,” I said.

I just couldn’t believe what I was hearing, Chris yelled, “Now, wait a minute! In that time, I was hyping you up. I told her all these great things about you, and I got her really excited about you. I mean really excited about you. And I did get some information. I found out that she works around here.”

I said okay, and I asked him where does she work. He gave me a scared look and started looking away from me. Then, I said, “Chris, please tell me you know where she works. Surely, you would at least get that information for me.”

Chris turned to me, gave a weird face and said, “I wasn’t able to find out—

“Oh my gosh, Chris! You didn’t get any information for me! I thought you were my boy, how could not give me anything to work with?” I interrupted.

“Jan was around, Isaiah. You know how strict she can be. I didn’t want her thinking that I was just talking to a customer,” he said.

“But you were talking to a customer! For five minutes! You could’ve gotten some information for me. It’s not that hard to ask people where they work. Also, you have my number. You could’ve just given it to her in less than ten seconds. I just can’t believe this betrayal by you. I thought we were brothers,” I said.

I started to fake cry, and Chris started laughing and asking why did I have to be so dramatic. I responded, “Because this is a serious moment. If the situation was reversed and you were the one she wanted, I would’ve gotten her number, her place of employment, her Facebook, her Snapchat, her Instagram, her address, her driver’s license number, her social security card, her birth certificate, and so much more in under five minutes for you. I would do that for you. Give you everything and anything you needed to be with this goddess you described to me. I just can’t believe that you didn’t give me anything. I thought we were brothers, but that was clearly a lie. I just can’t believe this betrayal.”

I continued my fake crying, when Chris came to me and embraced me. He started fake crying and said, “I’m sorry, Isaiah. I’m ashamed of myself. I let you down, and I didn’t get you your goddess. Please, forgive me, my brother.”

I responded, “Your betrayal is unforgivable. The damage has been done, and there’s nothing you can do to fix it. That goddess you described was probably the love of my life that I’ll never see again.”

We fake cried some more and then we let go of each other. Then, we started laughing. I told him that I was still low-key mad that he didn’t get anything from me. He said, “I know, but I also found out that she comes in the afternoons at PetSmart. I told her that she’ll probably eventually see you again in the afternoon.”

I sighed, looked at him and said, “Nah bro, I only work the mornings now. So, I’m probably never gonna see her again.”

“Oh. Whoopsies,” Chris said.

We both started laughing, Chris looked at his watch and said, “Well, it’s 9:00 right now, so it’s break time. Do you want to go and get some Chick-Fil-A?”

“Yeah sure, I could use some Chick-Fil-A right now.”

So, Chris and I headed to Chick-Fil-A, ate and talked for thirty minutes, came back to PetSmart to clean up our mess for thirty minutes and went home afterwards. It was truly an interesting day at PetSmart filled with bliss, laughter, fun and betrayal.

This is the end of “An Interesting Day at PetSmart.”

Be sure to like, share and comment your thoughts on this short story.

This weekend, I will be posting and sharing poetry.