Seven/ Eleven. Poem by Buddy Bee Anthony

When I was barely in my teens, my mom
and dad won a free trip to Las Vegas. My mother, was as yet
uncorrupted, loyal, socially innocent, shielded
Birthed by hard working, displaced Eastern Europe/ Canadian, immigrants.
When she married my dad
he was the only first and only man
she was ever intimately involved with.
My mother was, kind, generally loving, exceedingly trusting, but, actually she could be a tough sell, . While, at first blush appearing to be an easy mark, gullible and naive She could be selfless, where my father could be loud, self protective, the heavy, cold, moody, and distant.. Mom was generous, not, spiteful, slow to anger. A cool headed, hippy momma. She
didn't bowl you over with her personal trauma or childish drama. A wild card, she was not. Her routine didn't vary much, and her beauty was in her consistency, She wasn't one to stray or steer their ship into the weeds. Mom didn't require supervision from psychological damage. Mom never went off the rails. She was the color of steady, predictable and contentment. She knew enough to remain in her own lane.

She was even simpler in the kitchen.
Oven roast an unseasoned slab of meat boil chicken in a big water pot, sparsely seasoned. Overcooked, turkey. Burnt, meatloaf. I didnt get the tastiest or even the best quality foods to eat, but, I did gorge on her tasty apologies.
I got proficient at permutations of boxed macaroni and cheese or pasta sauce.
after burning one of her roasts in dried up juice with cut potatoes and carrots
If I desired fine cuisine, or was a picky eater with exotic tastes, I'd have to seek out dinner buffets elsewhere order take out or participate in our school lunch program., Since, aquiring a chef, growing up was not in our budget, it was often a fail to thrive
emergency situation, brewing
in our household.
As far as I can recall, though, mother dearest never smoked, didn't
drank or swore, either.
Having won a trip to Vegas Mom arrived in Sin City
Her and my dad were whisked away to see headliners
Steve Lawrence
and Edie Gourmet
In the early hours of the morning.
She, then, wandered into the casino.
Like a bug to a bug zapper
my mom was iresistably drawn
to the energy, the buzz and spontenaity of the craps tables,
She felt privileged and soon elated when she was asked
to get into the action by rolling their dice.
Not being aware of the in's or outs of craps,
having a dim awareness of what
she was betting on.
After rolling her first pair of dice.
She hit a seven or an eleven.
Which made her a winner
on her first roll of the dice.
She let her dollar chip ride on that bet.
But, then my mother rolled only points
She went on a numbers roll for almost 45 minutes before rolling another
crap out roll of 7 or 11..
She was rolling winning point numbers
for all the other players
who were now getting rich
off her stunningly unusual run of the dice.,
which involved betting against
any craps roll.
Meanwhile, my mom was screaming 7/11,
trying to win as she had won
with her first roll of the dice.
For my mother to win her second dollar she'd have to roll traps, cleaning out the rest of the high rollers at her table
who were acquiring riches from mom
who kept coming through by rolling their money point numbers
She didn't crap out for what
must have seemed like an eternity to the casino.
One very fortunate gambler
who was an undertaker, from Louisiana,
raked in close to a quarter of a million
dollars due to
mom's unusual beginners luck
The croupier, commented, how they'd
never seen such an incredible
run of the dice.
Yes, mother was on a hot streak.
If only she was betting
in the opposite direction.
Every time my mother rolled her dice
she would shout 7/11
the other big rollers at her table, undoubtedly
wanted to feed her strychnine.
Mom just didn't know better.
When she finally crapped out at the table,
by some miracle, throwing a 7 or an 11,
all the other betters gathered up
their riches, as they departed,
they tipped the casino workers big time.
The undertaker from Louisiana,
threw the croupier sixteen hundred dollars.
Mom made twelve dollars on her bets.
The undertaker sneered at my mother,
begrudgingly, chucking her
a hundred dollar chip before stomping off.
My mother immediately went to the cashiers cage
to cash in her hundred dollar windfall
so she could mail the money
back home, to her ailing father
who had been forced to take an early retirement.


All rights reserved as is by author..
Re: edited 04/21/2026 @ 11: 30 AM
Pacific Standard Time

Buddy Bee Anthony