by Blair Burden
***
I tried to open my eyes as I felt a tugging at my sheets. I felt my head snap back and with all my force, I opened my eyes wide.
“What are you doing?” Mama shouted. “Why are you laying here like this?”
With the little energy I had, I grabbed Mama’s wrist and pushed her off me. “Get away from me!”
Mama jumped on my chest with her one-hundred and fifty pounds and began to pick at my eyelids. “You think you can leave me?”
“Leave me alone!” I pushed her back in the chest, causing her to collapse onto the hardwood tiles. “You’re a sick demented woman.”
Mama ran toward me and gently stationed her hands around my neck. Then, with all her strength, she tightened them until I saw stars. Her eyes met mine and all I could see was a bad soul wanting help.
“I’m sorry,” she cried and unloosened her hands from my neck. “It’s just you make me so mad!”
Trying to get my breath back, I reached for my phone to call 911. With her tennis shoes, she kicked it away and pushed me back onto the bed.
“I love you, Cassie.” She held me down as she wrapped me in the blankets and she rocked me as if I were a child.