“I don't dance.Yield out,” he said, ending the call.
She sat for a moment and realized the majority of the day had passed.It was nearing one in the afternoon, and she hadn't left the house in days.She dressed warmly, grabbed the keys to her pickup truck and went into town.She stopped for coffee, went by the bookstore, and used the gift card Jay had given her for Christmas, buying a book for herself, one on canoes, and several age-appropriate books for Oscar.
Her next stop was a furniture store for a bedroom set for a teenager.The space would definitely require two workspaces, one for homework, and another for his Legos.She hesitated on the second workspace, thinking he’d want to build his own.Then she stopped altogether, buying only the mattress and the frame.
“If there will be furniture, maybe he and Jay can make it for his room,” she said, feeling proud of thinking ahead.She asked the nice people to load the bed frame and the mattress she would open and allow to expand once she took it out of the box.
One last stop was made to pick up a pizza because she had no intention of cooking tonight.She’d barely made it home and brought in the pizza when her personal phone rang.So far, she'd avoided the calls, and today she faced the music and took it.
“Hello, Mom,” she said in the line.
“Shenita!I have been calling and calling,” Anita Barnes said.“I got a call from your father, who said he'd been out to visit you before Christmas, and you were living with a man and getting married.”
“True,” she said, adding nothing else.
“Am I coming to your home to meet this man you plan to marry?”
“Probably not, but I will send you an invitation to the wedding, which will be in June,” she told her mother.
“A June bride.What are your colors for this wedding, Shenita?”
“Pink and light blue,” she said softly.She omitted the Trooper blue, which would have given her mother an indicator of what Jay did for a living.She also lied about the color pink.
“So those are my choices for the mother of bride dress?Should I send you examples of what I plan to wear?”
“Nope, not necessary,” Helen said.
“What date in June?I need to put in for the time off,” Anita said.“Will Waldo and I be staying at your place?”
“No.Please plan to stay at a hotel,” Helen said.“As soon as I iron out the details, I will send you the link for booking for your stay.”
“Where are you?Your daddy said you have a nice home in Indiana with this man.Does he have any money, or did you marry a broke joker?”
“Mom, he goes to work every day to support us, just as I do,” Helen said.“And Waldo, is he still flipping pancakes at IHOP?”
“He's the manager, thank you very much,” Anita snapped.
“Whatever.I thought after all these years as a nurse, you would have at least bagged an anesthesiologist, but you've always had bad taste in men,” Helen said, baiting the woman.
“Like you choose winners.What does this one do, Shenita?”
“He is an educator,” she said.
“That's unlike you.”
“We all grow up at some point, Mom.I've grown into the woman I was meant to be.”
“And what the fuck is that supposed to mean?”
“It means what the fuck I just said,” Helen stated.“All the trauma, the bullshit, your nonsense and more is behind me, and I no longer care for your antics.I will send the invitation for the wedding.Wear whatever the hell you want, make a spectacle of yourself, and try to steal the attention away from me if you desire.However, the scared little girl is no more.I shall show you for the woman you are as you meet the one I've become.”
“Shenita,” Anita said, taking one of those long pauses that always made Helen’s sphincter release a little bit of pee, “I've never known how to love you.”
“Of course not, because you've never known how to love yourself,” Helen replied.“I'll be in touch.Take care.”
She ended the call and opted for a slice of pizza while it was hot.She poured herself a glass of red, nibbled at the slice, and went to find her tools.It didn't take long to put the bed frame together, then she unboxed the mattress, getting flattened by it as it expanded.Mustang entered the back door to her squeal and came running to find her pinned between the frame and plumping mattress.
“Well, there is a sight,” he said, helping her up.“Interesting day, I assume?”
