the black pepper moved.

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My sister Pat sits in a chair all day. If she goes out it is to walk around a store for exercise, the neighborhood for exercise, and to a doctor of some sort. The only places she sits are the doctors. Since I take her to the doctor I sit too. And because of Covid, the doctor's staff cleans the chairs everytime someone gets up.

We might have bed bugs. How? Why? I haven't a clue. I'll know tomorrow when the exterminator comes between 8-11 am. I do know that I had guests yesterday for the first time in forever and now I'm paralyzed with fear. Neither sat on the affected chair that I am aware of. My sister-in-law was over briefly last week. Did she sit down? I'm hoping this is outbreak, if there is one, is quarantined to two areas.

Timeline/Backstory:

Maybe before Memorial Day, a family member had a recliner they were giving away. Pat tested it and like it. She's been using it since. Now my mother always told me don't take/pick-up/buy used padded furniture it will have bugs. I can hear her saying "I told you so" now. But it was someone who I trusted and is very clean and it never really crossed my mind.

I had my surgery at the end of May and used the laundromat for three weeks? Is it possible I got them there?

Late June, early July, Pat said a bug bit her. She said it every couple days. Last week I sprayed the chair with some Raid I had laying around. It was old, but the half-life on the stuff it generous. I thought they were sweat bugs. Even in the hottest weather she is wearing a wrap. I don't know why, but I decided to wash the towel she sits on, the towels over the arms of her chair and behind her head, and her wraps in hot water and put them in the drier. It didn't happen again. 

Last week she broke out in a rash. Probably due to the Raid. I thought it was heat rash, but she turned bright blotchy red on her arms and legs. We went to the doctor. She said it didn't look like heat rash, bedbugs or a couple other things. It looked like an allergic reaction.

Friday I wash the sheets. She says to me I took off my sheets, but there's something all over my mattress pad. It looks like someone spilled pepper. I went back up and agreed with her. I removed the mattress pad (We also have those bed bug sacks that zip all the way around the mattress because I'm anal. And they were pepper-free.) and brought it down. I was going to wash it with the rest of the wash. She told me to "throw it out" we'll go to Walmart and get a new one. That's when I noticed the "pepper" was moving.

During the night I thought maybe I should have check the box spring. It doesn't have a cover. (Mine does.) The were two puddles of "pepper". I got the Raid and doused them. Later in the day I cleaned them up and used paper towels instead of rags and stuck them in a used Ziplock and sealed it. I didn't want to risk moving them to another spot. Then I cleaned everything with rubbing alcohol. I did some research into bed bugs trying to figure out what the "pepper" was. Nothing I saw online looked like what she had. Bed bugs hatch in 6 days. I decided next Saturday to tear everything apart and check again. If there was something, I'd call Terminex.

Sunday nothing. This morning, nothing. Or so I thought.

I came downstairs and Pat was telling me about the Olympics and she did one of her "damn its". And then again. And I asked her what the issue was. She said those tiny bugs are back. So before we went walking (she went around a full block with hills!) I turned her chair over and I saw it. "Pepper". Thin lines where the under side of the handles were. Where the seat met the sides. Wherever there was a crack or joint. I told her to go out and I sprayed the underside with the Raid and finished the can. I cleaned up the "pepper" with paper towels thankful it was trash day. I took the towels and the shawls and put them on a pile to inspect when I got home. 

We're eating breakfast and I see black spots moving on the upside down chair. I killed twelve. They still didn't look like what I saw online. 

I took the pile of textiles out to the porch and examined every inch. On her shawl I found something that looks like what I saw online. I killed it. I called the exterminator. I really wanted them to come today. I drug the chair outside being extra careful not to have it touch anything. Then I vacuumed. Then I stripped off all my clothes and put them outside in the sun. I rewashed all her textiles in hot water and dried them in the drier

Pat is sitting now on the yellow chair. If there was even one on her, then they will transfer to that chair. She doesn't understand why I'm freaking out and why I called an exterminator. The chair on the porch now has visible bugs. The heat is drawing them out.

Sharon lives in the senior high rise and they had outbreaks about two years ago. She is well versed in the issue. If it is bedbugs I'm in for a lot of cleaning, laundry, and a lot of garbage. She said they'll tear the house apart. Her guy didn't put it back together. At the senior high rise they quarantined you if you had them for a month. I'm so over quarantine.

Will I need to buy new soft furniture? Carpet? I have no idea. But right now even a hair moving on my legs makes me check to see if it's a bug.

I also might be googling deep cleaning services. If I have bugs, then my house won't be organic anymore. Might as well just pile on the toxicity and start anew.