Mama B: A Time to Speak (4 page)

Chapter 7

I could tell by the way she avoided my eyes, she really didn’t want to talk about her Daddy. But she needed to think about her son. Since she picked a questionable father for Cameron, she ought to at least be willing to find a good substitute.

“Your daddy is older now. Got more sense than he did back when you were born. Plus, he never had a boy. This may be his only chance to do all the things men do with younger menfolk in a family. Go fishing, hunting. Stuff he didn’t do with his daughters, he can do with Cameron. ”

She dropped her spoon in the bowl. “And what about Miss Wanda?”

I rubbed my hand on Nikki’s arm. “You let me handle Wanda. She listens to me. And she’s got more sense, now, too. I reckon your momma does as well. People do grow up and mature after while. Most of ‘em, anyway.”

Nikky shook her head. “All I know is, Cameron and I have been getting along fine without his father or my father in our lives. You’re the only one in the whole Jackson family I deal with, and that’s fine by me. If I never talk to my father again, I’m good.”

“Cameron never asks about his grandparents?” I asked her.

She nodded. “He does, sometimes. And I remind him that he has grandparents. My mom and you. When you send him gifts at Christmas and his birthday, he knows he has family.”

“He also has aunts and uncles,” I added. “And cousins.”

She rested her spoon on the rim of the bowl. “I don’t mean to be rude, but you seem to have forgotten that I am the product of an affair. My father, his wife, and my mother—the other woman—have never gotten along and they never will. I’d rather live my life without my father than be treated like a red-headed stepchild every time I’m around him and the rest of my so-called family.”

There, she’d done it. Thrown it all out on the table like a big, black blob. Ugly, sticky. I gave another sigh.

“I’m sorry if I hurt your feelings,” she quickly apologized, resuming her meal. She swallowed again. “The rest of them are so distant. You’re the real thing, Mama B. No matter what was going on between my daddy and my momma, you still kept in touch with me all these years. That’s why I knew Cameron and I could come here.” It was her turn to rub my arm now.

Good Lord, I had almost forgotten the whole point of my conversation. Had to wind it down and switch channels. “Baby, I could never forget about you. You my blood, you mine no matter what happened with my son and the faults he had when he was your age. I’m always here for you.

“But now we got to talk about your plan for gettin’ back on your feet. You need some help gettin’ a job?”

She put a hand over her mouth to keep the cereal from spilling out while she laughed.

I raised an eyebrow ‘cause I didn’t see nothing funny.

“How you go from telling me how much you love me and you’re always here for me straight to I-gotta-get-out-of-here?”

“It’s
because
I love you that you can’t stay here forever. I gives help, not handouts. So, let’s start at the beginning. What you runnin’ from? Got to be more than just a boyfriend.”

Once she regained her composure, she answered, “J.T.” She inhaled and exhaled again. “OK, here it is. I broke up with him because he started hitting me. Then, like I told you, he and his cousin fired me. I thought that was the worst he could do. But then he started stalking me—following me to job interviews, leaving notes on my car window. He walked Cameron home from school one day. Then when I opened the door to let Cameron in, J.T. rushed inside my apartment and started an argument.

“He’s crazy, Mama B. I needed to put some space between me and him for a while, so I broke my lease and left.”

Even though she’d told me a little more, I got the feeling she still hadn’t told me everything. Maybe that’s all she could come to grips with for now. “I sure want you to be prayerful.”

“Oh, don’t worry. I’ve got a little money in savings, and my car is paid for, so I’m good for now. I plan to give you something on bills and groceries. I just need a break, you know? Raising Cameron is a lot of work.”

Skin rolled in between her eyebrows and I knew exactly what she meant. When Albert took vacation from work once a year, I would take my vacation, too, and stick him with the kids for at least two or three days just so I could go somewhere and put my feet up. Every mother needs to catch her breath every now and then. “Yeah, Nikki-Nik, I do understand. And I’m glad to help you rest on a few laps of the rat race. But I don’t think it’ll hurt to get a plan goin’ for when you get back in it. That’s all I’m saying.”

She shrugged. “I hear you. I’ll start looking first thing Monday morning. Give J.T. time to find another girl and get his mind off me before I head back into the city looking for a job.”

“Sounds like a plan. And in the meanwhile, I’d like you to get up and get some clothes on and come to the food pantry with me today. Help serve lunch to some people less fortunate than you, some of ‘em ain’t got nobody at all to turn to.”

Cameron come bounding through the door, sweat dripping down his face. “Mama B, it’s a snake out there!”

“What it look like?”

“Green and skinny. He about this long.” The short width between his hands showed me the snake was pretty small.

“That’s just a grass snake. No harm.”

“Can I catch it?”

Nikki yelled “no” at the same time I said “yes.” She and I looked at each other.

“A snake?” she squealed.

“That’s what boys do,” I filled her in.

She shivered. “Eew!”

I turned back to Cameron. “Your grandfather and your great Uncle Otha used to catch grass snakes all the time. Lady next door got a little pond in her back yard, sometimes the snakes wiggle over to our yard.”

“Who’s uncle Otha?” Cameron wanted to know.

Shame he didn’t know his own people. “Otha is my other son.

“Go ‘head and get a mason jar out the cabinet. See if you can’t trap the snake in there. Be careful with it, and be gentle.”

“What’s a mason jar?” he asked next.

Nikki laughed. “I’ll get it for you.”

That girl made me proud. I only wished I could have gotten her in my house one week every summer like I did with the other grands. She might not be a single mother if I’d had the chance to speak into her life. But her Momma kept her at a distance. Can’t say I blame her, though. She thought Son was going to leave Wanda, but Son got a clue before the divorce from Wanda was finalized and decided to try and save his family.

Poor Nikki got the short end of the stick. But I had a mind to sow whatever good I could into her for whatever bit of time God saw fit to let her and Cameron stay with me.

I sent Son a text message later on that night. Told him his daughter and grandson was at my house for a spell.

He sent me one letter back:
K.

Chapter 8

Friday evening, the Titus 2 wives’ ministry class convened at my house. The leaders, Janice Jamerson and LaTonya Wilcox, got to my house a quarter ‘til seven to get prepared. They supposed to been giving the women a cooking lesson that particular night.

Sure was glad to see this ministry carrying on. Ophelia and I started it about fifteen years before, when both our husbands was still alive. But since they deceased, we let it pass on to the next generation ‘cause it’s kind of hard to talk to women about problems we ain’t never gonna face no more.

Plus, me and Ophelia wasn’t as encouragin’ about husbands no more. Used to be we thought if you prayed and cried enough, God would change your husband. It happens sometimes, but we got no such exact promise from Him in the word, and you can’t stand on what God didn’t promise.

Not sayin’ wives ought to give up on their husbands or their marriages, just sayin’: might be God’s will for you to practice your love walk, learn to keep your joy and peace no matter what while you married in this life, then y’all part ways at the pearly gates. He go his way and you go your way with Jesus.

Well, that ain’t what the wives want to hear, so Ophelia and I did the right thing by turning it over to Janice and LaTonya. They could keep hope alive better.

Those two come in with pots and pans and five bags full of groceries plus soda pop, ice and paper plates.

I kissed them both on their cheeks as they trailed through the doorway.

“Mama B, you look so nice. Got your little capris and cheetah print top,” LaTonya complimented me.

Janice added, “Please. She always looks good. Wait a minute. Let me see your glasses.” She put her face all in mine, then hollered out, “Girl, she got cheetah print on the side of her glasses, too.”

“Go on, Mama B. I ain’t mad atcha,” LaTonya laughed.

I waved them off. “Y’all come on in here.”

“How many people y’all expect?” Much food as they had, must have been half the church. Then again, everybody know Janice and LaTonya could cook. They cakes and pies be the first to sell out at the fall festival.

“Ten or fifteen,” LaTonya said, “but they always want to take a little home to their families so we got a lot more.”

“Thank you so much for opening up your home to us,” Janice said. “We could have had the class at my house, but since everybody already knows where the church is, it’s just easier to have the meeting here.”

“No problem. I’m glad to have y’all. What you cooking tonight?”

“My own special recipe chicken enchilada casserole,” Janice beamed.

“With turtle brownies,” LaTonya added.

“Sounds good. How can I help?”

“Mama B, you sure you want to get your clothes all dirtied up?”

“Got my apron right here.”

We got busy washing chicken, dicing onions and tomatoes, grating cheese. Those gals turned my kitchen into one of those TV shows – had everything ready to pour and mix by the time the rest of the wives got there.

Nikki joined us for the meeting while Cameron sat in the front parlor reading a book I had made…well,
encouraged
him to get when I took him to the library after me and Libby finished our walk. Had to do something to get him out from in front of the tube. Thank God, the librarian knew exactly what books an 8-year-old boy would want to read. We checked out five that didn’t have all the witchcraft. We brought the books home, and Cameron had been reading a good two hours with no end in sight.

Around seven-thirty, all the ladies moved into the kitchen to start the lesson. Nikki gave everybody the sheet of paper with the recipes on the front and back, and we all started watching and taking notes. I told them to help theyself to anything they wanted.

LaTonya started off with the dessert since it would take the longest to cook. She got the batter going, then remembered they forgot the butter. She saw my low-calorie margarine in the icebox and shook her head. “Mama B, where’s your
real
butter?”

“Honey, I ain’t had real butter in this house since my husband went on to be with the Lord.”

Chile, they all looked at me like I’m crazy. So quiet you could have heard an ant tinkle on a cotton ball!

“Well, what
do
you use for butter?” Janice asked with question marks all over her face.

I got up from my chair and walked toward the fridge. “You can use applesauce instead of butter. Less calories. Better for you. Still tastes good.”

Everybody in the room said “Oooh” and “I didn’t know that.”

Sister Williams’s daughter asked. “My husband just got diagnosed with diabetes, we definitely need to cut back on the calories. What do you substitute for cheese?”

“Ain’t no substitute for cheese. But if you get the right brand, you can get the two-percent kind. It melts just as good.”

She smacked her lips. “My husband is
not
going to eat low-fat cheese.”

I wagged my pointer finger back and forth twice. “Honey, you don’t
tell
him it’s low-fat. You just cook it and he’ll eat it. I switched my family from ground beef to ground turkey real gradual-like. They didn’t even know what hit ‘em.”

      Now they all had their eyes on me, but I didn’t want to steal the show and make ‘em feel bad about eating all this enchilada stuff. I sure wasn’t gone feel bad when I fixed my plate. No harm in eating wild every once in a while. Just can’t make it a lifestyle.

“Let’s go ahead and finish with the meal, and I’ll give y’all some more ideas later.”

“Yes ma’am.”

Inside my heart, I felt real good, too, ‘cause I like helping peoples, and I like to see the young women take care of their families. God fixed it to where can’t nobody else on earth completely satisfy a man like his wife.

His ways so smart.