Signing a few more sections, I passed the nurse my papers. I looked at her, and she looked as though she knew what I was thinking. “I’m sorry for my friend acting like a damn fool.”
The nurse smiled and nodded, saying, “It’s okay.”
“Ain’t nothing okay with me, you trifling whore.”
“Zacariah, this is uncalled for,” I finally yelled. “Shut up before security escorts you outta here.”
“Escort me because I’m ready to go anyway.”
“Ms. Clemmons, you are free to leave,” the nurse said moving with confidence, letting Zacariah know she wasn’t afraid of her. And maybe that confidence was her knowing she could whoop Zacariah’s behind. Either way, the nurse never fell into Zacariah’s ignorance, and I admired her for that.
When I got home, I got settled in my bed and decided to rest for the remainder of the day. I crawled beneath the covers, clicking the television on to see what shows I could get enthralled in. While clicking, I came across The Cosby Show. It was my favorite show to watch when I was growing up, and seeing Clair made me miss my own mother.
I turned to look at the phone. Picking it up, I dialed a number that took me a minute to remember. Only because I always got two numbers turned around. Instead of dialing 912-555-5252, I would dial 912-555-2525. Hearing the ringing made my heart flutter as I anticipated hearing someone’s voice.
“Hello,” a soft tone spoke bringing bliss to my ear.
“Hi, Mama, it’s me, Essence.”
Kea
It was Emory’s wedding day, and she looked stunning walking down the middle of the church. Smiling from ear to ear, she looked like the princess she always dreamed to be. Scanning the audience, I saw Jaquon gazing at me smiling. He whispered the words, “I love you,” and I frowned, knowing he was nothing but an impostor. I turned my attention to the reverend who prayed over Emory and her soon-to-be husband before having them say their vows.
The ceremony seemed to whiz by with me being the maid of honor, holding her flowers while she put the ring on his finger and his on hers. They lit the unity candle while I made sure her four-foot train was beautifully laid for the audience to admire. And finally, the reverend said, “You may now kiss your bride.” Emory’s husband lifted the veil from her face and planted a nice, gentle kiss upon her lips with the preacher saying, “Church, I give you Mr. and Mrs. Aaron Coburn.”
The church stood clapping, and we grabbed the arm of the groomsmen following the bride and groom out of the church.
The next hour or so consisted of pictures taken in many different poses. I wanted to say enough already because my feet were killing me, despite me thinking these were going to be comfortable shoes. Mother was beaming with joy. She finally got one of her daughters married off to a nice, respectable, and wealthy gentleman. It was all about the money with mother and how we were represented in front of people. We were the perfect family. After all, we were supposed to have been mothered by the best.
At the reception, things kicked off with dinner, the first dance with Daddy, and then the cake cutting. I couldn’t spend any of this time with Jaquon, which suited me fine. Not that I wanted to, but he was supposedly my significant other. Needless to say, mother did not like him. I should say she didn’t like the fact I was living in sin with a thug who couldn’t afford to put a ring around my fourth finger on my left hand.
“Kea, darling, doesn’t this make you want to find a decent man so you too can get married?” she asked sitting beside me in her nine-hundred-dollar gown. I have to say my mother was a beautiful woman with flawless skin, each hair in place, and a smile that lit up a room. Little did people know that beneath her elegance was an evil woman.
“I’m not ready to get married, Mother,” I responded looking around at people passing who said, “This was a fabulous wedding,” to my mother who beamed with glee. But just as fast as her smile appeared, her controlling manner reared its ugly head back at me.
“Honey, I really think you should move out until you two decide to make it official. That’s if he can make it official.”
“Mother, if I move out, it will be because I no longer want to be with him.”
“Trouble in paradise?” she asked with raised eyebrows. “Are you finally wising up to this man’s tawdry behavior? I mean, he has been cheating on you for quite some time now. I don’t understand why you’ve put up with him this long.”
“Maybe I’m wising up now. Maybe I have found someone else to take his place,” I said taking a sip of my champagne to ease the pain of talking with her.
Mother almost choked on the tea she was sipping, placing her hand on her chest, trying to cough without looking graceless.
“Kea, do you mean to tell me you have someone else? I thought I saw you come here with Jaquon.”
“I’m just saying maybe I have found interest elsewhere, Mother.”
“So when do I get to meet this man that is brazen enough to get you away from him?” she asked pointing with her eyes in the direction where Jaquon sat.
“Mother, get a grip. You would be the last person I would introduce to anyone. You should understand why. I mean, you are the shrewdest, most unloving, self-centered, insensitive mother there is. And did I mention abusive?” I said with a smile.
She whirled her head looking at me like she could bash my head in. “You ungrateful little twit,” she said speaking through her teeth, continuing to fake a smile at everyone around us.
“There is my mother. I was waiting for her to show up. Do you want me to go get the rubber hose you used to punish me into behaving like a respectable woman or are you just going to backhand me right here in front of everyone?”
“Not here. Not now,” she hissed. “You will not ruin this day for us.”
“By ‘us,’ I guess you mean you and Emory. I thought this was her day,” I said sarcastically.
“This is her day. Emory has done something you will never do, and that’s find a good man who’s worthy. And since you are worthless, you will only get men who will use you, abuse you, ruin you, and leave you, because they can see how insignificant you are too.”
“How about I ruin you?” I said standing and hitting my champagne glass with my fork.
She looked up at me in shock saying, “You wouldn’t.”
I smiled and cleared my throat, “Can I have your attention, please, everyone?” The loud chatter turned into whispers.
“I want to toast the bride and groom. Emory, I love you with all my heart. We are both so different, like night and day, but still, we stand here today as young, vibrant women who have triumphed through many misfortunes. I’m so happy you have found a man who can take good care of you. Aaron is a great guy, and I know he will love you through the lifetime you two will spend together. Many blessings to you both,” I said lifting my glass to them and everyone did the same.
Emory looked at me with eyes filled with tears as she blew me a kiss. I acknowledged by doing the same. Looking down at Mother who smiled proudly yet nervously, I looked back at Emory long enough for her to know where I was going with this. She nodded.
“Today is the first day your life can finally begin. I hope your days are filled with genuine love. For us, the only love we have ever experienced was from our father,” I said, looking over at Dad who seemed to look proud but also sad.
“Mother, dear,” I said solemnly, looking down at her smiling fake face, “only loves herself. She loves her appearance, she loves money, she loves men with money, and she loves to pretend to be this stylish, prominent woman. But how can she be this when another one of her loves is to see her child suffer as she takes a rubber hose to her daughters’ backs to turn them into something she thinks is worthy of her vision of perfection.”
The guests gasped. Heads turned as I looked at Mother, Daddy, and then at Emory, who didn’t seem to be bothered by my little outburst, which surprised everyone but us. Last night, I took it upon myself to talk with my sister about her accusation. I told her it was Mother
who was still beating me. Emory began to cry and apologize, but I told her I knew it wasn’t her fault. From there, our conversation entered territory we’d never visited before. For the first time ever, our sister connection was being established. With this breakthrough, I also let her know it was time to stop Mother from treating us like she did. So I kept going.
“Mother does not deserve to be called Mother at all. I should call her Frances. Though she gave birth to me and my sister, she has never loved us to the level of us believing it. Her form of discipline was to strip us down to our undergarments, making us turn our backs to her while she gave us twenty lashes like we were slaves who had defied our master. I guess in a way we were her slaves. Especially me, the child she never wanted. And she made sure to let me know this every chance she got.”
I turned to her and said, “What was that you said, Mother? Oh, I remember. I was worthless, and that I will only get men who will use, abuse me, ruin me, and leave me because they can see how insignificant I am too. That’s what you just said to me not even ten minutes ago, Mother. Yet, you sit and put on your fake smile all the while demeaning the daughter you pretend to love.”
Mother looked like she was smelling something foul. She stood suddenly and said, “You ungrateful little tramp,” slapping me across the face.
The crowd gasped again. I smiled, knowing Mother was showing these people who she really was. Daddy stood, telling her, “You better not put your hands on her again.”
I rubbed my cheek and said, “Ladies and gentlemen, here is the real Frances Fields.”
She looked into the faces of the many stunned individuals.
“She is spewing nothing but lies,” she said to everyone listening.
“What reason would I have to lie, Mother?”
“Because you insist on making my life a living hell. I did everything for you and your sister. You think you can embarrass me like this?” she said with hands thrashing.
“I only told the truth, Mother,” I said calmly.
“Lies. All lies,” she retorted.
“They are not lying,” Daddy said, finally coming to our defense. “You have beaten those girls for as long as I can remember. I wanted to do something, but I didn’t. I just sat back and watched you torture my babies their entire lives, and I will never forgive myself for allowing you to do what you did to them.”
“Shut up, Joseph!” Mother shrieked.
“No, you shut up, Mother,” I said.
“My life revolved around making sure you girls had everything at your fingertips,” she said defending herself.
“But everything came with a price,” Emory retorted.
“That’s life, and if it wasn’t for me doing what I did for the two of you, Emory would never be marrying Aaron. And you. You—”
“Do you not understand that with love from a real mother I could have walked a path of greatness without feeling worthless, unloved, and full of anger? All you had to do was wrap your arms around me and tell me, ‘Baby, it’s okay. I will love you regardless of any situation. ’”
“How can I love you? You—”
“Don’t do it!” Daddy yelled at her interrupting her flow.
Emory sucked in air before saying, “Mother, I’m moving to California with Aaron.” She touched her stomach and said, “We are expecting our first child, and I don’t want my child to grow up with a grandmother like you.”
“Expecting? Moving? What? When? Why didn’t you tell me?” Mother asked taken aback.
“I didn’t tell you because I didn’t want you telling me how much of a screwup I was for getting pregnant before we got married. And I didn’t want you to convince me that being near family was the proper way to live my life just so you could dictate how I should raise my child.”
“Well, we are an important part of you, Emory,” Mother stated.
“Kea is right in everything she’s saying, Mother. Even in the fact we are not as close as we should be, and that’s only because you have always treated me like I was better than she was. We were supposed to be raised with the same type of love. I never should have been your favorite. The only reason I was spared much of your wrath was because I saw how bad it could be with Kea being the example you used to try to mold me.”
Mother stood firm not responding.
“All I can do now is pray that Kea and I can mend this relationship between us,” she said smiling at me.
“We will,” I acknowledged.
Mother sat back down in her seat, brushing the wrinkles out of her clothing once again.
“Well, I guess everything is settled and this conversation is over. There is nothing more to discuss. Band, can you play some music, please. This is my daughter’s wedding,” Mother said, picking up her glass of champagne and acting like nothing was wrong.
Derrick
There she stood looking the vision of beauty near the rail of the balcony overlooking the grounds of the reception area. The full moon seemed to be shimmering down sparks igniting my heart. Its size was much larger than usual and represented the extent of what Kea had just done in front of a crowd of people awhile ago. I walked beside her and looked at the moon with her.
“Beautiful, isn’t it? Kinda gives you a soothing feeling.”
“What are you doing here, Derrick?” she asked with surprise evident on her face.
“I’m a guest at this wedding.”
“Who invited you?”
I laughed saying, “I can’t be invited to a wedding?”
“I didn’t mean it like that. What I meant to say is, how do you know my sister?”
“I don’t. I know the groom. He’s my brother.”
Her mouth fell open.
“A bug is going to fly in if you keep it open like that.”
“I didn’t know you had a brother,” she finally said.
“Oh, he’s not my real brother. We’re fraternity brothers. I’m an only child by my mother, but I probably have many siblings. Daddy did his thing back in the day. My mother wasn’t the only woman he was sleeping with.”
“Wow. So, you don’t know if you have any other siblings ?”
“Nope. And that’s scary too, when you meet a young lady and got to ask her what her daddy’s name is.”
She laughed. “You’re so crazy.”
“You know I’m telling the truth. People are sleeping around too much these days. You might actually end up dating your sister. It gives me chills just thinking about it.”
“You didn’t ask me who my father was,” she said.
“That’s because I knew who your daddy was. Remember, I met him that time your parents celebrated their wedding anniversary, and Zacariah and I tagged along with you and Jaquon.”
Just the mention of that name started to change my mood. I hoped Kea didn’t see it.
“I remember. Daddy was more than welcoming, but my mother was cold as ice. And now you can see why,” she said giggling, and her smile hypnotized me. I stopped and peered into her eyes.
“No disrespect, but I’m glad you’re nothing like your mother. You have risen beyond any stigma she has tried to place on you, and I’m proud of you for standing up for yourself this evening.”
“It was long overdue. I hate I had to do it here, but I figured this was as good a time as any to expose her evil ways.”
“I’m sorry you had to go through everything you went through.”
“What doesn’t kill you makes you stronger. I’m a living testimony to that,” Kea said.
Both of us stared deeply at each other and for a moment the conversation ceased until Kea began to speak again.
“Look, Derrick, about the other night,” she said shifting uncomfortably.
“Maybe now is not a good time,” I said looking at another couple who walked onto the balcony admiring the huge moon illuminating the serenity.
“So when is a good time?” she asked.
“You tell me.”
“Jaquon will not be home until late. Why don’t you swing
by our place?”
“No, why don’t you come by mine? Zacariah no longer lives with me, and this way, we don’t have to worry about any interruptions during our ‘discussion.’”
She smiled saying, “Sounds like a plan. What time do you want me to come over?”
“The sooner the better,” I said looking at her sultrily.
She looked intensely at me and turned her attention back to the full moon, hugging herself as both hands gripped each of her shoulders. I loved the way the light cascaded off of her skin. And then I remembered how Kea felt when she was in my arms. I wanted so badly to pull her into my arms this instant, but I thought better of it. It was a good thing I didn’t because Jaquon appeared out of nowhere. He jabbed me in the side jokingly. I blocked his moves, hoping he didn’t notice my erection from looking at Kea’s smooth skin. I quickly played it off and placed both hands in my pocket.
“What up, Derrick?” asked Jaquon.
“What up with you?”
“I’m just enjoying this wedding. It almost gives me ideas of marrying this beautiful lady right here,” he said looking at Kea whose smile disappeared.
“I was wondering where you were,” he said to her.
“I needed some air.”
“How much air do you need, baby? You’ve been gone for a while now.”
“She was looking at the moon,” I said pointing to it.
“Damn. I didn’t notice it,” Jaquon said.
“How could you not?” Kea retorted.
“It must be these drinks, baby. They never should have put a free bar in the same room with me because I have been making them bartenders earn their keep tonight.”
“How many drinks have you had?” Kea asked, snatching the half-filled cup of liquid out of his hand.
“I’ve only had eight.”
“Man, don’t you think you need to cut yourself off?” I asked.
“This is my last one,” he said giggling. He reached for the drink Kea took from him, but she moved it out of his reach.
“Maybe you need to stop drinking now, Jaquon,” Kea suggested.
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