Summary

The memoir opens with Prologue in which the author and narrator, referred to as Bridgett from this point, describes a typical morning with her mother, Fannie, when Bridgett was in first grade. Her mother was on the phone, taking numbers from a customer about that day's bets. She carefully took down the three-digit numbers and coded them with the information about the bet. At school that day, Bridgett's teacher confronted her about her shoes. She asked Bridgett what her parents did for a living. Bridgett knew she could not tell her teacher the truth – that her mother operated a Numbers business – but she did not know what she was supposed to say. The teacher had her describe the 10 pairs of shoes she owned. She wore a different pair to school the following day and the teacher confronted her. When...