Bite The Needle

Part 11: Bite The Needle

Ella's black lacquered lips formed a grimace as the pastor smacked the leather bound bible closed and said, "God bless Mrs.Nicolette, through all of her hardship, she remained faithful to the lord and served us well and proved to be a daunting wife, and remarkable mother to both Clarence and Marcella." Ella cringed at the sound of her whole name. Marcella. She had written out the first four letters a long time ago, in grammar school she used to just sign all her papers with her initials because the sound of her name bore her nerves sore. "A few words from her children," the pastor prompted, dangling the microphone in Ella's direction. However, Ella in a black cloud of pure frustration didn't see, until a gentle nudge made her look up. Ella's black heels clacked across the hollow wood floors. With a gentle pat on the shoulder from the reverend, she began to speak.

"Mother was a person, a wise person, but mostly foolish,and of course many would say I wouldn't be here without her and I should speak kindly of her, and that's true, she grew the vine that bore me, then sorely plucked me and set a fire to my harvest. She abandoned us, Clarence, Lyle, and I for faithfulness from the invisible man which you all swear to when you think your assumptions are facts- always running to the store to doll us all up, when we were broke, but pastor, say, isn't the lord supposed to love us all despite our attire? I guess you never got that across to her. She spent money on ingredients for big old pies for a white collar church function, in a below blue collar town.
She was bluer than the sky but y'all never knew cause she said she was a prodigal singer, but her voice sounded no better than then needle scraping across the cloth board. Said daddy got our house from his fancy job in Newton, but he worked at an oil rig, that's right,and our 'mansion' was a rundown estate she inherited from some distant cousin," Ella's voice suddenly erupted into a series of gasps and sputtered coughs.

Tyson's hazel eyes shot Ella's sapphire eyes a sharp look, "are you okay?" He mouthed, his body already ready to leap up. But Ella waved her hand and took in a long deep breath before continuing,

"She didn't belong to no city, and she didn't belong to no man, just go down to the strip and ask, she didn't wear her ring half the time. But of course who would blame her when daddy beat her half to death in the attic, or the fact daddy was down at the strip too scoring whores. Oh and I bet you'd all say she was a generous woman for giving her money to the lord and the church, and being brave through all the adultery and abuse, but would you say she was a good mom if you were there the nights Clarence and I would have to eat daddy's leftovers, or the nights shed sit and watch us get beat cause she was to high off the Mary Jane.

Yes Mama was a person and she gave me life, but that is all she did for all of us and it Clarence was still here he'd say the same thing, but he's not here cause he overdosed on heroin at her hands. He took the drug filled needle from the woman who gave him life, and in the same instance, died; from that very same person that gave him life. Yes, he bit the needle that sewed him, and I am left to what? To hem it all back up again like I always did, by taking their blows, and making money ? By standing here and forgiving her for what she did. Well I refuse. You may say I'm being cruel, wicked, ungrateful or we'll just an all around bitch. But mama was the one who was ungrateful, I did what I had to, I let men climb inside my body, I got on my knees, I cried and I screamed, just to make money to feed HER children, to make buy the thread that sewed HER dresses and and this is what happens when you bite the needle that sews you."

Ella slid off her dark lenses sun glasses, revealing her tear filled bloodshot eyes, and looked out, into a crowd of pleasantly dressed people, with a show of horror cast on their not so pleasant faces. And the ever lingering sound of silence.

Just then Tyson, who had leapt up earlier, grabbed her goosebump plagued arm. "You're okay, it's okay, who cares what they think, it matters what they know now," Tyson cooed, leading Ella toward the door.
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Tyson began to walk Ella toward the car when her frail arm jerked him the other way.

"My house is this way," she mumbled,"I want to go see it."
"Of course, but you want to walk there?"
"It's only 2 blocks."
"Alright."
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Ella's palms pushed against the white painted door. Specks of paint flaked off into her her heels. Ella shakes her ashy legs viciously trying to wriggle the paint out. "Ugh," she grunted. "Step out of the way, time to be macho, ayyo," Tyson said, stepping in front of her and slamming his body against the door.

Suddenly the door broke loose, landing Tyson in the mildewed carpet afar.
"Ouch my boobana'" he said squinting in pain.
"Boobana!?" Ella repeated, giggling vivaciously.
"Whats up under my hoo ha woman!" Tyson asked appalled.
"Ooh god, get up gently," Ella asked slightly raising her voice.
"Why what is it!?"
"My brother," Ella mumbled.
"Wait what?"
"His Ashes," Ella pointed to the urn up under the hem of Tysons pants.
"Ew!" Tyson yelled.
"Yeah, looks like mama wasn't all concerned with it."
"Runs in the family I'm suspecting," Tyson said.
"What?"
"Thinking R.I. P means Reak in Pieces."
"What?"
"You refer to her as poultry and she sprinkles your brothers ashes in the middle of this dog piss soaked rug."
"Oh well. and wreak is spelled with a 'w' by the way," Ella corrected, "so it'd be W.I.P."
"Whip, whip it real good," Tyson sang, bobbing his head obnoxiously.
"Actually whip is spelled with an 'H'"
"Alright alright, geesh since when did you become such a big fan of pita?" Tyson asked.
"Oh I hate pita bread, gross!" Ella smacked.
"Pita stands for 'pain in the anus' professor!"
"Oh."
"So any fond memories here?" Tyson said brushing himself off one last time.
"Well over there's where I dug food out of the trash, and there's where momma almost cut her finger off cause she-" Ella abruptly paused unable to find the words to finish off the sentence.
"Are you okay?"
Ella giggled soundly.
"How could I not," Ella asked.
"Alright, are you high?"

Ella's neck lunged out to her lips were level with his feeble ears, and spoke,"marijuana."
"Are you trying to kill yourself, cigarettes and now joints of Jane,'" Tyson said sternly.
"Relax, it's legal, as prescribed babe, as prescribed."
"Oh well, can we go now, this place is giving me to creeps."
"I am a product of this place, am I creepy?"
"Yes on so many levels and you know where you come from doesn't define you, it's where you go."
"Well Machiavelli once said, evil is a product of where a person comes from or originates, a person is not simply born evil, for evilness is not made, but produced." Ella said.
"Who cares what he said, humanism is a philosophy not laws of the universe."
"I care. It's like- my be a bitch free card!" Ella smiled, "now let's go!"

"Can we call a cab?" Tyson asked.
"It's only two blocks," Ella stated.

"2 blocks, 2 far," Tyson said, emphasizing the word 'too' a little too much.
"Lazy," Ella chuckled nudging him roughly in the shoulder blade.
"I'll admit it, I'm a city boy, these legs weren't meant for walking 20 miles to school in the snow."
"Hey, we have school buses," Ella said laughing.
"Rusty old ones from the industrial revolution?" Tyson asked mockingly.
"Hey I'm 21 not 121," Ella protested.
"I don't know, I think I see a wrinkle there."
"Where?"
"Right there," Tyson said planting his lips on the corner of her lips.
"Smile marks," Ella said, pulling him into a kiss.
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