Stupid

Stupid By Mia Jackson

The Beginning

My first memory as a child is as clear as if it were yesterday.  My sisters, Jessica, Katy and I were sitting on a bench outside of the Court House in Fort Worth, Texas.  My Grandmother (Big mama) and my Mother were taking my brother Mark to the bathroom.  Jessica grabbed Katy’s arm and told her to sit back and be quiet.  Jessica, all of 7 years old, was always being the Mother Hen. 

“I’m tired.” Katy whined. It was 8 o’clock in the morning and we had been up since 5 am that’s a lot for a two year old to take.  Big mama woke us up with a warm sermon and a hot breakfast.  She helped Mama get us dressed while she instructed Mama on what to say when we got to the Court House.

“Now Sista (Mama’s nickname), Baby, don’t tell them you’re pregnant cause they won’t give you no divorce if you do.” She said as she ran a comb through Mark’s hair.  Big Mama couldn’t stand my Daddy she thought he and all his kinfolk were shiftless, worthless pieces of nothing from the North side.  She never wanted them to marry and couldn’t wait for it to be over.

Big mama was over 6 feet tall with dark skin and a beautiful smile we didn’t call her Big mama because of her height, Big Mama also had a huge behind. She was a no nonsense kind of woman, she spoke what she meant and meant what she said. She had been a maid for the Brochures, a rich prominent white family for years.  We played with the kids on the weekends when their parents were out of town.  I thought they were wonderful people until my grandmother died after working for them for over 40 years and not one of them called or sent flowers.  Big Mama couldn’t suffer any fools.  The only fool she dealt with on a regular was Grandpa and he was her old fool. 

And here we sat, waiting for the clerk to bring Mama her papers ending her marriage to Daddy.

Daddy had been Mama’s high school sweetheart.  She was the homecoming queen and he the Quarterback. They married at 18, had 4 children, and were waiting on a divorce decree by age 23.  

The clerk finally arrived with documents in tow. 

“Good luck Mrs. Jones.” She said quietly as she handed the papers to Mama who took them soberly. She couldn’t seem to take her eyes off the papers.  We waited looking at mama wondering what in the world was going on.  Mama looked like the papers were burning her hands.

“Well, you’re finally rid of that good for nothing so and so.” Big Mama said with a giant grin.

“Yeah, I guess so.” Mama said with no smile in sight.

 They gathered our things together and headed us out to the car.  We stopped at Wyatt’s Cafeteria and had lunch. Big Mama kept smiling and talking a mile a minute and she didn’t seem to notice Mama never once smiled. That was the end of Mama’s fairy tale and the beginning of a nightmare that us all for the rest of our lives.

My Mother left my father because he wouldn’t work. He had a promising football career but was injured in his first year and hadn’t done anything else since.  While my father, Antoine was home depressed and drinking, my mother met another man at her job at Mrs.Bairds Factory.  She fell head over heels for him.

 Freddy Carson was younger by two years from an affluent black family in Fort Worth.  He had the gift of gab.  You wanted to believe everything coming out of his mouth he was so suave.  My mother fell for it all hook, line and sinker.  Freddy added to all the other problems Mama was having led to the divorce.  Mama divorce was final.  She and Freddy were getting married and going to California in a month.  We were going to stay at Big Mama’s until they got settled.  Well, it took them 15 months to get settled.