Page 16 of The Heart Of A Real Woman
“What happened? You care to finally share that with me?”
I eyed her, hesitating. “Pops used to beat me.”
“What?”
“Yeah… but it’s cool.” I shrugged. “I’ma tattoo over it soon.”
“It’s not cool. Why the fuck would he do that?”
“Angry. Needed a fix, so he’d take that shit out on me until I was about fifteen. By then, I was damn near as tall as him. Shit flipped. He couldn’t fuck with me no more.”
She nodded, visibly hurt for me, but didn’t say anything else. We sat in silence again, but this time, I broke it.
“I wanna get full custody of my son too.” I shifted the conversation to something positive.
Mary turned to me, her eyes curious. "How come?"
"His mama ain’t ready to be a mother. He spends a lot of time with her grandmother while she runs the streets. I ain't judging. We young. But I want my son to be raised right, you know? He deserves all the love he can get at home. I wanna givehim everything I didn’t have. That’s why I’m working hard on getting an apartment."
"Do you think she’ll be okay with you wanting full custody, though? I mean, that’s a whole different ball game than just bringing him over to her grandmother’s place."
"We talked about it. Shaunie don’t give a fuck. She wanted him when she thought it would make me be with her. But when she realized that wouldn’t change my mind, she lost interest. Especially now that she knows we together. She hates the responsibility."
Mary nodded. "Wow."
"Wow, what?"
"I couldn’t imagine doing something like that. Whenever I become a mother, my kid will be attached to my hip, whether I’m with the father or not. But hey, to each their own."
I bobbed my head, feeling a twinge of jealousy. "You mean whether you with me or not."
She smiled. “Of course. You know what I mean.”
“You don’t ever have to worry about that, though, ‘cause you ain’t going nowhere. You a fool if you ever think I’m comin’ off you.”
“Look at you, all possessive. Just a few weeks ago, you didn’t even want me like that.”
She laughed, but I didn’t. That shit wasn’t funny to me.
“I always wanted you,” I made clear to her. “Just afraid you’ll stop wanting me when you go off to college and see something better.”
She leaned in and kissed my lips. “Stop it. I’ll always want you. Ain’t no one better, baby. I told you that.”
I nodded. “But how do you feel about that?"
"About what?"
"About my son living with me full-time. You think you could handle that being my girl?"
“I think it’s beautiful that you want him with you and want to give him a better life. I won’t lie to you, though. The situation makes me nervous. I mean, I’ve fed and changed the babies in my family, but I don’t know anything about taking care of a baby full time—”
“Don’t be nervous. I’m not asking you to do nothin’ full-time. I know he’s my responsibility.” I cut her off.
“And I know that. Let me finish.” She said, cutting her eyes at me.
“But he’s a part of you, so it doesn’t matter how nervous it makes me. I’d love to get to know him and learn how to help you take care of him. I can pitch in even more when I come home from college for breaks.”
“Cool. Just let me get this place, and I’ll make arrangements for you to meet him."
