Total pages in book: 121
Estimated words: 112755 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 564(@200wpm)___ 451(@250wpm)___ 376(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 112755 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 564(@200wpm)___ 451(@250wpm)___ 376(@300wpm)
“…Yeah. Tarik fell out of a window. He died.”
“And you blame your mama for that, and y’all ain’t talking because of it?”
“Well, it’s actually way more to it than that. My mother and I aren’t talking for a lot of reasons, and to be real honest with you, Tina, I don’t want to get into all the causes as to why right now.”
“Okay. I understand. I can respect that. I figured there may have been more to it, but Desiree ain’t say nothin’ else.” She tapped her cigarette into her ashtray once more, and her eyes tapered as she stared at him. “Regardless of the reasons, at the end of the day, son, that’s still yo’ mama… Don’t make that face, Legend.” They both smiled at one another as apparently, she caught his lips twist up at her words.
“You ’bout to marry my daughter. Y’all gonna be a family. That makes you my son, too. I’m tellin’ you now, as your mother-in-law, and a woman that’s lived life, that if you don’t at least make peace with her, regardless of whatever beef y’all got going on, you’re going to regret it. I’m not talkin’ about be friends with her. I’m not even talkin’ about have a relationship with her. I’m not talkin’ about forgiveness, either, ’cause depending on what it is, not everything is forgivable. I’m talkin’ about making peace with her, in YOUR heart. Don’t carry that baggage with you, boy. It’s too heavy.” He leaned back in his chair and checked the time on his phone.
“My mama died,” she continued, “and I ain’t never forgot about our last conversation. I cussed her up one side and down the other.” Her eyes sheened as she tapped more ashes into the ashtray, her fingers twitching nervously. “I blamed her for every problem in my life, Legend, and I still think she was responsible for a lot of my pain and hurt, and teachin’ me shit that wasn’t true. But I got a hurtin’ pain inside of me that won’t heal all because I was stubborn and bullheaded.
“All ’cause I talked to her like dat and didn’t have time to tell her I loved her anyway, no matter the thangs she done, ’cause her intentions wasn’t to hurt me, Legend. Intentions are important. If somebody out here tryna make yo’ life a livin’ hell, that’s one thing, but if they just a dumb person that happens to be our mama, then damn! We gotta cut ’em some slack. Again, we ain’t got to like them. Ain’t got to talk to them. But we gotta make peace within ourselves, and accept, they were just too dumb, or too selfish, or too whatever to know better.” He sat up a little, and he felt that… He nodded his head in understanding. “I ain’t get to tell my mama that I know she just didn’t know no better, before she left this Earth.” She sniffed, and dabbed at her eyes with the back of her hand. “We can learn lessons from our Mama. We don’t have to be cool with her. Be friends wit’ her. Some of my kids ain’t even talkin’ to me ’cause of the life I lived before I got clean.” He nodded in understanding. “They don’t want nothin’ to do wit’ me, and I can’t tell them how to feel. Tell ’em they wrong. All I can do is still be here and open that door, or answer that phone when they finally decide to call. Not all of us get happy endings, but we can love one another through the sadness and agony of the painful chapters.
“I ain’t gone keep you, honey, and I’m sure your mama isn’t no angel if you feel the way you do ’bout the situation. You don’t come across as unreasonable to me, but please, before you regret it, make peace in your heart wit’ that woman. Even if you still decide to never talk to her again, tell ’er that you love her, but you just can’t open yourself to that kind of hurt no more. More importantly, baby, heal from whatever pain she caused you, cause one day, she’ll be gone, and you’ll still be hurtin’. I ain’t have too many good things to say about my mama, but I thought of a few to say at her funeral. I tell you this though, honey, regardless of it all, she was here, and yo’ daddy wasn’t.” She pointed at him, a seriousness in her expression. “Maybe that counts for somethin’. That’s all I got to say about that. Ain’t none of my business no way. Get on up. I know you gots tuh go.”
He slowly got up from his chair, wrapped his arms around her, and gave her a kiss on the cheek. Tina walked him to the front door and opened it.