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)
“Some hot sauce, baby.”
“You got it, cutie pie. What about you, sweetie?”
“I’m fine. Thank you.”
The waitress went on about her way.
“I’m not sayin’ she right, Legend, I know Mama isn’t a saint, but, I mean, that is our mother.”
“You used the right word because I’ve been callin’ her the wrong one this whole time. She’s a mother. Not our mama. Blood ain’t thicker than water, girl.” He finished off his eggs and started drowning his waffles in pecan syrup.
“Legend, stop being so stubborn and mean. She’s not going to be here forever. She’s got high blood pressure and—”
“Facts can’t be mean or nice. They’re just facts. They don’t have a personality or mood. Her high blood pressure is from her lifestyle. I ain’t got shit to do with that. It’s not hereditary, and you and I both know we’ve got our own health issues, on account of her. Just because they aren’t physical ones don’t make it any less important.”
Melanie sucked her teeth and looked away. She knew exactly what he was speaking of. She’d had a nervous breakdown when she was nineteen. Then, a miscarriage at twenty that almost killed her due to loss of blood. Was almost raped at age twenty-two by a guy she only had one date with, who refused to take no for an answer. Thankfully, she got away and he was arrested. She used to strip in a club to make ends meet before landing her bartender gig, but that stint of taking her clothing off in front of drunk and high men who wanted more than lap dances messed up her trust in mankind. They’d survived a life of neglect and abuse.
“Let me school on you some shit. A woman starts the process of becoming a mother from growing a fertilized egg in her womb. She had intercourse with a man during her window of fertility. His sperm fertilizes the egg, and she takes it from there.”
“I know how babies are made, you grandiose fucker.” She rolled her eyes.
“Be quiet. A grown man is speakin’.”
“Whatever.” She shot him the middle finger.
“Tryna explain somethin’ to yo’ ass… make a point. Now, as I was saying. That woman then becomes a mother once she gives birth, and goes on about her life. All she has to do is have the baby, and she’s done. A mom, mama, or mommy is different from a mother. A mama has sex, gets pregnant, gives birth, raises that child, cares for ’em, and loves the baby she brought into the world until the day she dies. She puts no one above that child. The child’s needs are met. They may not have the best clothes, get to have McDonald’s Happy Meals every week, or get a haircut on the regular, but they’ve got the basic necessities, and enough love from her to drown in. Her main priority is caring for the life she helped create. Period, point blank. Our mother had three chances to get this shit right, Mel.” He threw up three fingers. “THREE. They say practice makes perfect. She blew ’em all.”
“I know she isn’t the easiest person to get along wit’, but she was a single mother, Legend. You have to cut her some slack! You should be blaming Daddy. He’s the one that walked out and started a whole new family in Puerto Rico.”
“Oh trust me, I blame him, too.” He added a bit more syrup to his waffles, then cut them into smaller pieces.
“Why do you hate her so much? Me and Mama get into it too, I know how she is, but—”
“You’re missing the point, Melanie. You can’t whitewash what I just told you—sweep it under the rug. Mothers who don’t care for their children make misfits and monsters. Mamas make miracles and marvels. Now, which one did I turn out to be?”
“You’re not a monster. I know that much.” He grabbed his coffee and sipped it. “You’re my brother, and I love you.”
“I love you, too. I wanted to meet you for breakfast today because I missed you. Like you said, we hadn’t seen each other for a minute.” He placed his cup down.
“I missed you, too.”
“I also have been goin’ through some things, okay?” He grabbed his napkin and used it to work out a bit of bacon from between his teeth.
“Like what? With your girlfriend you told me about? Her name is Desiree, right?”
“Yeah, that’s her name. Nah, me and her are good. Real good, actually. We’re straight.” He cut into his waffle and shoved a piece of it in his mouth.
“Here you go, honey.”
“Thank you.” He took the hot sauce from the waitress, opened the top, and sprinkled it on his hashbrowns.
“Well then, what’s the problem?”
“One of Mama’s boyfriends molested me.” He took another bite of his waffle. “You may or may not remember him. You were pretty young,” he stated with his mouth full.