Mother sips from her pina colada. “Of course not. He and I have nothing to talk about.”
I guess I could understand her point of view. I’m more intrigued by how easily she moves on to the next. I wasn’t a fan of Marcus, but even seeing him get killed on camera was hard to grasp. Even knowing he was trying to sell me off again.
“Can I ask you a personal question?”
She looks over at me. “Should I be worried?”
I chuckle. “You don’t have to answer it if you don’t want to.”
She stares for a moment before nodding her head for me to go on with my question.
“Have you ever been in love?”
I knew most of my mother’s marriages were based on the man’s bank account. But I do wonder if at any point she loved any of her husbands.
She takes a last sip of her drink and then tosses it into one of the trash cans on the side of the street. After dusting off her hands with a napkin, she glances at me.
“Yes. I was in love once.”
I’ve never had more than a brief conversation with Evelyn. We usually argue whenever we talk. This time with her has shown me that we can get along.
“Who?”
She cuts her eyes at me and playfully rolls them. “Your father.”
Even though I had no idea what she would say, this was definitely not what I expected. She left the man twenty-four years ago and never looked back. Never even called after she left. From my understanding, she left a note on the kitchen table and took me to the neighbor’s house.
“I can tell by the look on your face you don’t believe me,” she chuckles. “But it’s true. Your father is still the only man I’ve ever loved.”
“Okay, so then you know what my next question is going to be.”
We separate when a guy walks between us. Coming back together, I wait for her to answer.
“I grew up poor,” she says. “I’m not talking about not being able to buy new clothes when I wanted or eating ramen every night. I’m talking dirt poor. We lived in a one-room shack, and if a strong wind blew, it would’ve knocked the house over. We had no lights, and if not for the well, we wouldn’t have even had clean water. I went to bed many nights with a grumbling stomach. My father couldn’t hold a job or his liquor. And my mother was so uneducated and weak, she could only get a job as a wash lady for rich families.”
Daddy didn’t like to talk much about my mother while I was growing up. I think for a long time she was a touchy subject forhim, but he told me once she’d had a really rough upbringing. I always thought it was just another excuse he’d used to explain her leaving.
“When I met your father, I was smitten. I fell so hard and so fast for that man.”
The grin on her face is authentic. It was easy to tell she had really loved him at one time.
“He was tall, handsome, and an athlete. You kids call it swagger now, but the way that man carried himself.” She hums. “You just knew he was working with a big d….”
“Whoa. Whoa.” I say, waving my hands.
She laughs. Even Jake, who is walking behind us, chuckles.
“Sorry,” she says, blushing. “Your father and I were two lovesick teens. When he went off to state to play basketball, he took me with him. We would sit up late at night in his little apartment talking about all our dreams once he went pro. We were so sure he was going.”
My father was an incredible basketball player. His stats at State University are still unmatched. I had no doubt that had he not gotten injured, he would’ve gone to the league.
My mother looks off into the distance as if she’s thinking about her past.
“When he graduated, he wanted to keep the dream alive,” she goes on to say. “He had a great job, making an acceptable amount of money. Then you came along.” She glances at me with a weak smile. “I was a young mother with fears of ending up like my own mother. I don’t think I ever saw my mother laugh. She just worked, cooked, cleaned, and slept.”
I can understand that fear. As a new mom, I realized I loved my son and would give my life for him, but I am and will always be a person outside of him. I needed to do something for myself. It was one reason I went back to work. The other reason was topiss my husband off, but regaining some of my life was a huge part.
Evelyn sighs. “I looked up one day, and everything that used to bring me joy felt stifling. The man I used to love started to feel like a stranger.” She shrugs. “After I left, I knew I’d never love again because I left my heart on the floor of that two-bedroom house.”
