Veronica "Ronny" Baker used to have a happy, healthy, normal life. Her job as a waitress wasn't great, but it supported her through four years as a biology student. She had a great fiancé, Derek Fincher. She had hobbies--knitting, jogging, reading, writing bad poetry, and raising Madagascar cockroaches. This last hobby is what made everything else happen. One day, a special cockroach crawled with alarming speed to her ear, and crawled in. It worked its way painfully all the way into her skull, where this special cockroach remains. Ghadam is his name, and he teaches Ronny many things.