God Don't Make No Mistakes
Page 34
Pee Wee and I retired early from our jobs a few months ago, but our new “job” would be looking after our grandson when Charlotte returned to work. The happiness and safety of my family continued to be the most important things in my life. Now more than ever.
It was moments like this, me seeing my grandchild for the first time, that made me feel so grateful to be alive. Even though this would probably be my only grandchild, I realized how fortunate I was. I felt so blessed that it was hard for me to contain myself. I wished that every woman could experience this kind of bliss. Even though I had a huge smile on my face, I also felt unbearably sad inside because I knew that one of the most important women in my life would never be a grandmother.
Rhoda.
Her lineage would end with her children. Her only son, who had moved from Alabama to Paris, France, was as gay as he could be. He had no interest in raising a child. Rhoda’s daughter Jade would never have children either.
After Rhoda’s family had hired a powerful team of lawyers and paid off enough people to get international drug smuggling charges against Jade dropped back in ’98, she had stayed out of trouble for a few years. She even landed a job as a receptionist in the main office at the steel mill where her father worked. Everything seemed to be going all right for about six months. But since she continued to associate with her stripper friends and other unsavory characters, she couldn’t keep her nose clean. Those same friends dragged her to hell with them. The man she was living with at the time had her selling drugs to some of her coworkers. And when somebody blew the whistle on her, not only did she get fired, but her daddy almost lost his job!
“Sometimes I find myself wishing that they had locked Jade up for a few years when she got arrested for smugglin’ drugs from Jamaica into the States,” Rhoda told me the day after Jade got fired. “I still think it would be better for everybody involved if that girl spent some serious time in jail.”
Rhoda got her wish.
A week after she made that remark, Jade stabbed her married lover and his pregnant wife to death in front of two witnesses. To avoid the death penalty, Jade made a full confession and pleaded no contest to the charges against her. She was going to be old enough to be a great-great grandmother by the time she got out of prison, if she didn’t die first. Case closed.
“Mama, why are you looking so sad all of a sudden?” my daughter asked, struggling to sit up straighter.
I blinked and shook my head to clear my thoughts. “Oh, uh, I was just wondering what you’re going to name the baby,” I answered. “My daddy would have been so proud to see his only great grandson.”
“If Anthony doesn’t mind, you can name him,” Charlotte said, looking at her husband.
A smile crossed Anthony’s face and he nodded. “Oh, I don’t mind, as long as it’s not Anthony. I’m the fourth male in my family named Anthony and it gets a little confusing at family events,” he muttered with tears in his eyes as he turned to me. “Mamette, do you have a name in mind?” I loved the way my son-in-law had combined Mama with my name.
I didn’t have to think long or hard on that. “What about Jerry?”
Pee Wee sniffed and blinked back a tear. “Nobody has called me by my real name since Charlotte was a baby,” he mumbled. “After all I put you through, I’m surprised you’d want to do me that honor,” he told me.
“Well, if it had been a girl, I would have suggested Annette,” I chortled. “And I’ve put you through a lot, too, Jerry Davis.”
“Can I make a suggestion?” Rhoda asked. Everybody looked at her. “If you name him Jerry, can we not call him Pee Wee too?”
We all laughed. Even Dr. Morris.
AUTHOR’S NOTE
This is the end of an amazing journey. I hope that if you’ve come this far, it was as much fun for you as it was for me.
From myself and the entire God Don’t Like Ugly series cast: Thank you for joining us!
Good-bye and be blessed.
A READING GROUP GUIDE
GOD DON’T MAKE NO MISTAKES
Mary Monroe
ABOUT THIS GUIDE
The suggested questions that follow are included to
enhance your group’s reading of this book.
DISCUSSION QUESTIONS
1. Annette and Pee Wee are separated, but they continue to have a sexual relationship. Do you think that this is a bad thing for any estranged couple to do?
2. Do you think that Lizzie is wrong to tell Annette about her pregnancy before she even tells Pee Wee?
3. When Jade accuses Bully of attempting to rape her, Rhoda believes her until Annette comes forward to report that she accidentally witnessed the incident. This causes a major rift between Jade and Rhoda. Should Annette NOT have told Rhoda what she saw?
4. Jade becomes irate at Rhoda when Rhoda confronts her about lying on Bully, and Jade initiates a violent confrontation between her and Rhoda. Do you think Rhoda is justified in ordering her own daughter to move out of her house?
5. Do you think that it is wrong for Rhoda—or any mother—to use violence against a violent child, or do you think the use of violence is okay in a case of self-defense?
6. When Annette’s half-white, half sister Lillimae comes for an extended visit, this causes a problem between Annette and her mother, Gussie Mae, who is still bitter about Annette’s father leaving her for Lillimae’s mother. Are you glad that Gussie Mae eventually accepts Lillimae?
7. Because of a medical condition in his past, Pee Wee is no longer able to father children, which is how he knows that he cannot be the father of Lizzie’s baby. Do you think that he is wrong not to tell Annette about his condition until he is forced to do so?
8. Despite Jade’s horrendous behavior, Rhoda wants to reconcile with her, but Jade is not interested. To get her away from the dangerous environment she is in now with pimps and drug dealers, Rhoda plans to plant drugs on Jade so she can get arrested. Is this going a little too far, or is it the only choice Rhoda has to “save” her child?
9. Harrietta Jameson is one of the worst kinds of child abusers because she does not fit the typical profile. She is a seemingly normal, likable woman with three young daughters of her own. Were you shocked to find out about her involvement in child pornography?
10. Annette’s daughter, Charlotte, is too afraid to expose Harrietta, so she sends the information anonymously to a reporter. Do you think this was a bold and clever thing for a twelve-year-old to do, or should she have told Annette first?
11. Annette knows firsthand how difficult it is for a victim of child sexual abuse to expose her abuser. As diligent as she is about protecting her daughter from predators, it happens anyway. Should Annette have investigated Charlotte’s frequent complaints about Harrietta more thoroughly?
12. Annette tries to talk Rhoda out of setting up Jade to get arrested. But when Charlotte runs away and moves in with a pimp, Annette does not hesitate to set her up to get arrested. Do you think these two mothers crossed the line? Do you think that they could have come up with better plans to rescue their children?
13. Jade is remorseful and frightened—or so she claims to be when she calls Rhoda from jail and begs for a reconciliation. Rhoda is receptive, but Annette still has some doubts about Jade’s sincerity. Jade eventually commits a more serious crime and ends up in prison for a very long time. Were you surprised?
14. Now that the series is over, are you happy with the way it ended? If not, why? And how would you have ended it?
DAFINA BOOKS are published by
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Copyright © 2012 by Mary Monroe
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Library of Congress Card Catalogue Number: 2012932550
ISBN: 978-0-7582-7866-1