I gasped. “I had no idea you were a mother!”
“I got three. My baby girl will be thirteen on her birthday this year, and it’s coming up real soon. My boys is only ten months apart so they both eleven. They all got different daddies.” Yvonne blew out a loud breath and sniffled. “I never really wanted kids, but I do love mine. Some of the folks I used to work for didn’t mind me bringing them to work with me, but some did. When that happened, I had to leave my babies alone all day with peanut butter sandwiches and water. Everybody else I knew worked too so I couldn’t ask them to babysit for me.”
“You couldn’t get any help from the daddies?”
“Pffft!” Yvonne waved her hand, did a serious neck roll, and looked at me like I was speaking gibberish. “Don’t make me laugh. Neither one of them fools hung around when they found out I was pregnant.”
“Where do your kids live?”
“With one of my mama’s sisters and her husband. They’re real good people. They don’t drink or smoke and they read the Bible every night. They live in Mobile and I don’t get to see my babies that much on account of my auntie and my uncle don’t want them to be around folks that drink and get loose the way we do.”
“That must be rough on you. If you don’t mind me asking, how come you don’t have your kids with you?”
“Well, like I just mentioned, I never wanted any. Since I lost my mama and daddy, I been real disappointed in the way things happen in life. The accident they died in happened just about half a mile from a hospital. They didn’t admit colored folks so them white motherfuckers let my mama and daddy lay there on the ground and die. Because of that, it took me quite a while to look at another white person without wanting to break their neck. For a long time, I hated being colored. I didn’t want to bring no babies into a world that had people so mean and hateful that they’d let human beings die just because they was the wrong color.”
“All white people ain’t bad,” I defended. “Me and Odell do a little socializing with some real nice ones from time to time.”
Yvonne nodded. “I know some nice ones myself. Willie Frank is one of our best friends—and it ain’t because we buy his liquor. The rest of his family is pretty cool too. But that still don’t make me feel better about what happened to my parents. Sometimes I wish I had been on that tractor with them.”
“Girl, don’t say stuff like that!” I scolded. “Life is precious.” I caressed her cheek and gave her a hug. “You have too much to live for now.”
“I know and thank you for reminding me of that.” Yvonne sat up straighter. “Well, I don’t know about you, but I can hardly keep my eyes open.”
I didn’t wait for her to ask me to leave. I should have done that on my own hours ago. With Odell gone until tomorrow and because Aunt Mattie’s story had made me feel so glum, I had decided to stay around people as long as I could tonight. But now I wished that I had left earlier. Yvonne’s story had made me feel even worse.
I went to bed as soon as I got home, but it took me a while to get to sleep. I had barely dozed off when I heard Odell come in just as the sun was rising. I got up and trotted to the living room.
“I’m so glad you’re back!” I gushed. I ran up to him and wrapped my arms around his waist.
“Joyce, you acting like you stressed out. Is everything all right?” He leaned away from me, looked around the room, and then back at me with his eyes blinking hard and fast. “Did something happen to your mama and daddy?”
“They’re doing just fine.” I guided him to the couch and we sat down. “What about your daddy?”
“He’s fine!” He glanced away again for a moment and then back at me with a pleading look in his eyes. “It’s a good thing I decided to start spending more nights with him. That heifer he married spent the whole evening running around with some of her friends and was just coming home as I was leaving.”
I gave Odell a puzzled look. “I thought you told me Ellamae didn’t have any friends.”
“She got a few and they all just as nutty and mean-spirited as she is.” He let out a loud sigh and rubbed his head. “Poor daddy. That lazy bitch hadn’t bathed him in two days.”
“Honey, I don’t like to keep saying it, but I will: When and if you want to bring your daddy to live with us, that’s fine with me.”
“Thank you, baby. I’ll keep that in mind.” Odell cleared his throat and glanced toward the door. “Uh, did you visit Yvonne and Milton last night?”
“Yes, I did and I almost wish I had stayed home.” I told Odell everything that Aunt Mattie and Yvonne had shared about their lives. He was as shocked as I was to hear that Yvonne had three children. “I felt so bad for her and Aunt Mattie, I couldn’t wait to get back home. Believe it or not, I was the last guest to leave. I knew that once I got home, and didn’t have anybody to talk to, I’d think about everything they’d said.”
“Well, baby, some of us got a bigger cross to bear than others. We just
