“Uh, sure,” she said, walking to the kitchen.
I didn’t know what to do, so I just stood in the spot she left me in. This side of Althea was so new that I wasn’t sure how to act.
“Can I help do anything?” I asked, wanting to keep occupied.
“You can get out some glasses and pour the drinks. I’ve got some lemonade in the frig and some beer. I’ll have lemonade.”
“Do you mind if I have a beer?” I was strongly in need of something to relax my racing heart.
“Sure. No problem.”
She finished bringing the food to the table as I got the glasses. I came into the room as she was sitting down and handed her the drink. I eyed the food carefully; it looked delicious.
“Wow, that sure does look good!”
I pulled out a seat across from her. Althea smiled at me, and I thought I would faint. She reached across the table so we could say grace.
“Heavenly Father,” she began, and my mind left my body. I had never heard Althea say a prayer in my life, and I was having a difficult time accepting this dinner invitation. I could not remember a thing she said, but I knew the prayer was over when she released my hand.
Her grasp was firm and soothing. Usually, when I was allowed to touch her, she reminded me of a wet fish. Tonight she actually felt like a warm and loving human being. I waited until she had fixed her plate before I started loading mine down. I was hungry, and the food smelled too good.
We ate in an uncomfortable silence for about fifteen minutes. For the life of me I could not think of anything to say to her. She must have been struggling also.
I noticed her glass was nearly empty. “Would you like more lemonade?”
“No, in fact, I think I’ll have a beer with you.”
She smiled as I got up and bought one for both of us.
“Althea…uh, Mom, this is good. Thanks for having me,” I said.
“Thanks? It was long overdue. Even though I hated the fact Jasmine was out there, I’m glad you two met and she was able to make me see the errors of my ways.”
I was so stunned that I could not speak. Althea put down her fork and looked me in the face.
“I can’t make up for all the years of pain I’ve caused you, nor can I erase all the negative things I’ve done. I wanna try to make things better for us in the future; in the little time I have left. Can I do that?”
I did not answer her right away because I didn’t know what that meant. After looking into her eyes and noticing the tears forming, my heart melted. I wanted to rush to her and give her a hug, but I held back. I nodded and she picked up her fork and continued eating like nothing had happened.
Pieces of her speech trickled down to my brain. “Little time you have left?” I asked.
“This invitation has nothing to do with the news I received recently. It’s time we became friends, but my doctor told me that I have a brain tumor yesterday. It’s inoperable. So, I’m counting my days and taking advantage of every opportunity I have left and I decided to move. This house has too many memories for me. I’m getting older and I want a simpler lifestyle. I’ve seen a house for sale in South Carolina, and I’m going this weekend to put a deposit on it.”
What the fuck? Is she just playing me? Why is she revealing all of this now? What am I supposed to say? Is this the part where I ask her to come live with me? Oh, hell no. But…what if it’s true?
“Wow, I don’t know what to say!” I said. “Why South Carolina?”
I was harboring too much pain from my childhood to feel sadness, but I could not help the feelings of remorse for what could have been had things been normal between us.
“Say that you’ll come to visit before it’s too late.”
“Of course, I’ll come if; you want me to.” I fought back tears. I didn’t know why I felt like crying. Althea was never there for me but, if it was true, it was still sad. Even though I hardly ever came over to her house, at least I knew where to find her.
“Finish your supper,” she instructed, and I complied. The food that had tasted so wonderful to me a few minutes earlier had transformed into shit. I finished the meal and even had a slice of carrot cake, but my heart was not in it.
I helped her clean up, and then I told her I had to go.
“Let me know if you do decide to move. I’ll come over and help you pack; if you want,” I said, looking at my feet and completely ignoring her statement about the tumor.
“Sure, I could use the help,” she said as I walked out the door. I wanted to hug her, but she didn’t appear like she wanted to be touched. She gave me a photo album, which contained pictures of my stepfather and my real father whose love would remain a mystery to me.
“They would have wanted you to have these. Your stepfather loved you very much, and your father wanted the opportunity to love you, but I denied him,” Althea said.
I felt like the room was closing in on me, and I could not wait to escape Althea’s home. I appreciated her gesture but I needed some space to think things over.
“Wow,” was the only thing I could say when I got back to the car. I wanted to call Jasmine but decided to wait until I got home. My mind was already wandering, and I needed to pay attention to the road. I stopped off at the liquor store before going home; it was going to be one of those nights.
I considered calling up some able-bodied dick to release some of the tension mounting in my body.
I immediately fixed a drink when I got home. Kicking off my shoes, I curled up on the sofa before dialing Jasmine. Her answering machine answered, and I had no choice but to leave a message.
“Gurl, I just got back from dinner with Althea. It was crazy, and I need to talk about it ASAP. Hit me back when you get some time. I’m about to get sloppy drunk,” I announced, hanging up the phone. I called Leah next; she didn’t answer, either. “Damn,” I said to the empty room.
I thumbed through the phone book, came across Tyson’s number, and called before I could talk myself out of it.
“Hello,” he said. I could hear my grandchild crying in the background.
“Hey, what are you doing to my grandchild?” I asked jokingly.
“She’s just hungry and her momma ain’t fast enough,” he responded with a laugh. “Thanks for the money you sent; it came in handy. Children are expensive.”
“I know that’s right. I’m gonna try to send some more when things get better for me.”
“Well, we appreciated it. When are you coming to visit?”
“In a few months, I have to make sure your grandmother gets settled first.”
“Althea? What do you mean, settled? I didn’t even know you two talked.”
“It’s kind of a long story, but I ran into a woman who looked just like me. We started talking, and I found out she’s my half-sister. We confronted your grandmother, and one thing led to another. I just came back from having dinner with her. Did you know that she has a brain tumor?”
“Althea or your sister?”
“OK, I’m rambling, so let me back up. Althea called and invited me to dinner. She said she has a brain tumor. She’s thinking about moving to South Carolina.”
“Why?”
“That’s what I said. Her mind is made up, though, and she plans on going up there this weekend and putting in a bid for a house. I offered to help her pack and stuff.”
“This is too deep.” The noise level in his house decreased, and I could tell my grandbaby was eating at last. “You have a sister?”
“Yeah, ain’t that a bitch? Momma was sleeping around with a married man, and he got his wife pregnant at the same time she got pregnant with me. We could’ve been twins,” I said with pride.
After a few seconds of uncomfortable silence, I told Tyson I had to go.
“Damn, wait! So you’re telling me Althea’s not the saint she pretended to be?”
“No, she’s not. Hell, I could’ve told you that. I wouldn’t have gone as far as guessing that she was screwing a married man, but I kn
ew something wasn’t right with her.”
“That explains a lot of things,” he said, and it opened up another folder in my life that I wanted to forget. “Things sure do change fast in your world, but that’s nothing new, is it?”
“Hey, my phone is ringing,” I said, clearly lying but needing to get off the phone. Life was whacking me in the face, and I didn’t want him to hear me cry. Althea’s words didn’t register until I repeated them to Tyson. My momma just told me she’s dying and all I could say was, “I will help you pack!”
“Oh, okay. No problem. I sent you some more pictures of the baby. You should have them in a day or two.”
“I have the other ones on my desk,” I said, wondering whether he picked up on my anguish as well.
“She’s really growing. I can’t wait for you to see her. She looks like me when I was a baby; especially her ears. They stick out from her head,” he said, laughing.
“That is so wonderful. You take care of that family, and I’ll talk to you soon.”
“Night, Mom,” he said and hung up. It had been so long since he had called me “Mom” that it caused me to cry uncontrollably. The good tears mixed with the bad when I thought back to Althea.
LEAH
I finally got the kids to bed, and I was in my room going through my dresser discarding clothes and folding up the ones that I wanted to take with me. The room was a mess, but I wanted to pack up enough stuff that night so I could haul it to my new house. I could not do children’s room while they were sleeping. I first packed the last of Kentee’s clothes and planned to take them to his mother’s. This was very painful for me because I always assumed we would have worked this out by now. Those thoughts were dashed when I got word he was in jail. He would never forgive me for bringing “the man” into our relationship.
My phone rang and it startled me. I raced to get it before it woke up Mya. “Hello,” I said, out of breath.
“Bitch!” a female voice screamed at me.
“Excuse me? Who the fuck are you?” I stared at the phone like the caller’s face would be revealed.
“You had my man locked up?” she screeched at me.
“That man belonged to me until your whorish ass came along,” I said, realizing who I was speaking to.
“If you were handling your business he wouldn’t have come my way.”
“I was handling my business. His kids are my business.” I balled my hands into fists. I glanced at the caller ID and realized that this dumb heifer didn’t even block it when she called. “Tarcia,” I said in disgust.
“How the hell do you know my name?”
“’Cause your dumb ass didn’t block your name and number before you dialed. Plus, I know a lot about you,” I replied, fucking with her mind.
“Yeah, well, you’re going to have to straighten this shit out for Kentee!”
“I don’t have to do a motherfucking thing but pay taxes and die!” I said, screaming back at her.
“You stole his tools, and now he can’t post bond!”
“And your point is? Why should I help him out? You handle your business and get your man out!” I snapped and slammed down the phone.
She called me right back.
“Bitch, don’t you hang up on me!”
“I’ve got your bitch! If you call my fucking house one more time, I’m gonna have your ass arrested next!” I banged down the phone again. That heifer had some nerve; calling my house and cussing me. She had ruined my marriage; not the other way around. I wish she would have brought her trifling ass over to my house because I would have pulled every strand of hair out of her head. I blocked her number on my phone and went back to packing, but my heart wasn’t in it. I was so pissed that I wanted to scream.
I went into the kitchen and poured myself a drink. I didn’t want to do it because I had so much work to do but I could think of nothing else besides fucking that would take my mind off my problems. I wanted to call Coy, but I was hesitant to do it. I was always calling him, and I wanted him to make the next move. My thoughts went to Craig. He was one sexy guy, and I wondered about him and his marriage. He never talked about his wife, and I found that strange; especially after we had shared a kiss. I respected the vows of marriage enough to attempt to keep my distance from him, but I could not deny that he turned me on hot.
Picking up the phone, I dialed my mother.
“Hey, baby,” she answered.
“Hey. Listen, the house came through, and I can pick up the keys tomorrow. Can I ask a favor, please?”
“Sure, what is it?”
“I need to drop the kids off at your house in the morning so I can move as much stuff as I can. They arrested Kentee, and I feel the need to move from here quickly. He was still coming in here when I wasn’t home, and I don’t like it.”
“Sure, bring them over,” she said, and I exhaled.
“Thanks, Momma! It’s so hard to do anything when they’re awake, but when they sleep I’m afraid to make too much noise and wake them up; especially Mya.”
I was so blessed to have her as a mother. Our past had been rough, but we were making it through. I had been a terrible child. I had played hooky from school, stolen money out of her purse, and done drugs. Through it all, she had stood by me, and I still felt her love. The fact that she was still speaking to me was a testament to her good character.
Momma had an addiction problem years ago, so she regularly attended AA meetings. With her encouragement, I had joined as well. I’m a firm believer in addiction being hereditary. At those meetings, I had met a woman named Vee whose spirit was wonderful. She had brought so much into the meetings that I could not help but to befriend her. I had invited her to stay with my mother and me while she straightened out her legal problems.
Momma didn’t complain about Vee coming to live with us, and I was thankful. But problems arose when I loaned Momma’s car to Vee, and she went out on a binge and totaled it. Momma and I had gone through some shit. Since I had let her have the keys, I could not claim the vehicle as stolen. Although Momma never pointed the finger, I had learned a valuable lesson; never lend anything that you can’t afford to replace. Vee had burned us and, fortunately, my mother had forgiven me.
I put together some more of the boxes that I had gotten from the grocery store and started loading them down with clothes. I was going to have to ask Coy if I could use his truck, and I had already made plans to transfer my phone and cable television services. Things were definitely looking up.
Since the kids had started school and day care, I hadn’t had any more mishaps with Mya. She was compliant and offered no resistance. She was sleeping throughout the night and she was more amenable at home. I said a silent prayer of thanks for the center and hoped that we were close to finding an answer to Mya’s troubles.
I sought the phone and found it under several piles of clothes. I was curious to find out how Sammie had made out with her mother. This was such an unexpected turn of events. I wished the best for Sammie, and I was hoping that this was what she needed to get her life back on track. The phone was off the hook when I finally located it, and I saw that two new phone calls had gone directly to voice mail. One was from Sammie and the other was from Coy.
It had been a few days since I had talked to him about anything else but Kentee, and knowing that he called made me feel happy. The last thing that I wanted to do was to fall for him and not have my feelings reciprocated. I listened to my messages and decided to call Sammie first.
“What’s up?” I asked.
“I’m working on a serious drunk right about now,” Sammie responded.
“Why, things didn’t go well with your mother?”
“It went better than well. I can’t understand where she’s coming from, and it is making me uneasy. She’s planning on moving to South Carolina.”
“Who the hell lives in South Carolina?”
“Nobody; that’s the point. She wants a fresh start with no memories plaguing her.”
“Running
away from one’s problems is never the answer. Changing locations to better your life rarely works because you’re taking the biggest part of the problem with you. Yourself!”
“I know that’s right, but I guess she’ll have to discover that on her own. I’m just grateful that we’re going to work on a relationship. I’ve always envied what you and your mother have. There’s a second part to this problem, and I don’t know if I believe it or not. She says she has an inoperable brain tumor.”
“Say what?”
“That’s what she said, and I don’t know how to feel about it. Part of me wants to be happy that her life isn’t peaches and cream, but the other part wants to spend as much time with her as I can while she’s still able.”
“How are you going to do that if she moves?”
“That’s my point! I’m going to call her tomorrow and ask her to reconsider. But I also want to talk to her doctor and make sure she’s telling the truth!”
“She would lie about that kind of shit?” I asked in amazement.
“I wouldn’t put it past her.”
We both fell silent.
“Gurl, I called your husband’s pager, and that shit is off the chain.”
“Ain’t it? I listened to his calls from jail, and he’s not a happy camper. His whore had the nerve to call me up today and demand that I bail her man out!”
“No way! Is that bitch crazy?”
“Obviously. He can rot in hell as far as I’m concerned.”
“After what he’s put you through, I don’t blame you.” She yawned and I followed suit.
“Why did you have to start that shit?” I stifled another yawn that threatened to escape.
“I’m sorry, gurlfriend; I couldn’t help it.”
“That’s something I always couldn’t understand. Why is a yawn so contagious? I mean, all you have to do is yawn and everyone around you yawns as well. That’s some funny shit.”
“Yeah; one of life’s mysteries. Gurl, I’m going to turn in. I’ll be there in the morning to help you move.”
“I was hoping you’d say that. I can use all the help I can get. I’ve got a lot of shit up in this house.”
Lawd, Mo' Drama Page 17
