That was exactly what Evelyn wanted. She wanted to make Janae blow her top so she could play the victim in yet another argument between them.
Hip to her game, Janae refused to take the bait.
“You know very well I don’t have a husband.”
“Only because you threw yours away. All these Black men abandoning their wives and children, and you see fit to throw one away who wants to be in the home?”
Janae raised her hand to stop her mother. “You’re not gonna come up in my house spewing that lie about Black fathers not being present. Some of them aren’t, but a whole lot of them are. And to those who are you’re gonna give them credit in my presence. And for the record, I didn’t throw my marriage away. I left it because my husband’s control issues had reached an unacceptable peak that would’ve harmed me if I’d stayed.”
Her mother pursed her lips, crossing her arms and leaning back as she looked down from her high and mighty perch on the couch. She’d served Janae this very same “I am displeased with you” looktime and time again for every infraction, real or imagined, Janae had committed throughout her lifetime.
Determined not to take the bait, Janae repositioned herself against the cushions to settle the nerves her mother had made a career of rubbing raw since Janae was a kid.
“So,” Janae huffed, trying to move past the building irritation feeding the slight throb at her temples. “How are you, Mother? What brings you by?”
Her mother glared at her, tilting her head as if she was trying to figure out if Janae was serious or just making polite conversation.
“I’m fine.” Her mother’s words were terse, letting Janae know she wasn’t fine at all. “I had dinner with my son-in-law this weekend, and from what I can tell, he’s single. I can only assume that’s because he’s still waiting for you to get your act together and ask him back home.”
Janae’s jaw dropped. Shocked as she was by Evelyn’s admission, Janae shouldn’t have been surprised. This was quintessential behavior for busybody extraordinaire Evelyn Tate.
Janae closed her eyes and lifted a pointed finger into the air.
“First of all, why are you still talking to my ex beyond ‘hi’ and ‘bye’ at gatherings revolving around my son?”
Her mother shrugged and lasered all of her focus onto Janae.
“You still talk to my ex.” Her mother’s answer was laced with all the sass and venom reserved for when she talked about John Tate.
“Ma’am,” Janae said, giving her back just as much sass, “your ex is my father. I am entitled to talk to him. Marq has no connection to you other than as your former son-in-law and the father of your only grandson. You getting cozy with him is only about you attempting to meddle in my business.”
Janae marveled at the blatant admission sitting on Evelyn’s face. She didn’t even have the decency to be ashamed of her behavior.
“Mama, stay out of my business. If you’re so concerned about reuniting with an ex-husband, worry about yours, not mine.”
“Your father is a no-count good-for-nothing who abandoned us without a second thought.”
“He did not abandon us. He left you. There’s a difference. My father was present in my life regardless of his separation from you.”
A brief flash of anger mixed with something akin to regret slid across Evelyn’s stark features, and Janae wondered if for once, in her never-ending battle of wills with her mother, she’d gone too far. But then the same disapproving glare Evelyn had leveled at her since she’d realized Adam was in Janae’s house caused Janae to stand her ground and remember to protect herself at all times.
“That’s your whole problem right there.”
Evelyn pointed her finger at Janae, causing her to nearly flinch at the blow she expected her mother to throw.
“You think you know so much and don’t know a damn thing. After everything your daddy put us through, I just don’t understand what’s going on in your head where your marriage is concerned. You get a good man, employed, faithful, does right by you and your son, and you toss him away for some imagined slight? A woman like you ought to be grateful you had it so good.”
There it was, the hit Janae knew was coming from the moment Evelyn crossed her threshold. The metaphorical closed-fist sucker punch Evelyn always saved for when Janae was winning. It was her way of bringing her down a peg or five.
“Exactly what type of woman am I, Mother?” Janae had played this game enough with people who she refused to give an out. If they were going to insult her, she would at least make them own it, and that included her mother.
Aware that she’d been put on the spot, Evelyn shifted in her seat, softening the angles of her face.
“Janae, I am your mother, and I love you. But you know I have to tell you the truth. You can’t be loud, bossy, and big and expect to get or keep a man.”
Bile burned in the back of her throat as Janae chewed on thesame insult her mother had been slinging at her since Janae was a child.
“You have such a pretty face, if you’d just lose a few pounds and learn to not be so argumentative all the time, men would line up at your door. If you got some act right, I’m sure Marques would come home.”
