You Condemn Me Now

Summer - July 3, 1989

                 

All of the adults entered the house and I closely followed behind my Mom. I don't care about the rule of 'children stay outside while grown folks is talking'. I've just gotten reunited with my mom.. And I'm not letting her out my sight. My mom sits on the couch and pats on the seat cushion beside her, gesturing that I sit next to her. She positioned herself in my direction and held both of my hands in hers.

"So... Tell me what you did yesterday... Did you do a good job cleaning the park with your cousins?" She asked

"Yes ma'am but it was hot! I ended up sharing my juice with the old man... He was REALLY thirsty" I replied

"What old man?" My mom asked puzzled

"The old man at the crossroads.. He wears a red hat and keeps a rooster in his coat pocket... He has to use a cane so that he doesn't fall" I replied and my mom gave me an intrigued look

Everyone got quiet and there was eye communication between my grandparents. Jacky looks like he's seen a ghost.

"How you come cross him?!" He hurriedly asked

I gave him blank stare before answering him.. "He was just standing there in the center of the roads... You know him?" I asked

"Yeah..." He nods.. "Folks call eem Papa... Ya know cuz he so ole...." he replied with a look I couldn't interpret... "He don't usually tawk to nobody... Jes surpised is all..." he continued

"Lawd! Chile!... Wasn't nobody in the road!.. she was over dere tawking to haself like she always do Jacky.." Aunt Pearl rudely interrupts

"He was too!" I yelled back at her and she raised an eyebrow

"Don't think cuz ya mama hea you can tawk back to me guhl..." She warned

Momma, never faltering, is still looking at only me with a warm smile on her face... "I think we should pay Mama Laura a quick visit before we're too busy at the reunion tomorrow... What a ya say?" She asked

"Okay Momma!" I replied in excitement... It will be awesome to get out of this house for a change and away from all of them.

"Bobby?... Do you feel up to taking us and dropping us off?" She asked my dad

"Yeah lets go.. I'm eager to see her myself" my dad said to my mom... "I'll be right back y'all" he assured everyone else.

We get in the RV and I'm amazed! It looks like a living room on wheels! There's also a small section in the back with a bed in it.. And there's even a bathroom with a shower! Just like the one's on the Price is Right!

"Coool!!!" I proclaimed.... "Going back home is going to be fun!" I squealed

I hated the long drives back and forth from Michigan to Arkansas... The highways were never ending and we'd  be stuck in the car for all eternity... Or so it seemed.

We drove along the dirt road until it  ended and met with the paved street leading into town..

"So what's Jacky like?" My mom asked my dad

I can see my dad's cheekbones raise from widely smiling... "The coolest uncle in the world. He's mama's youngest sibling. Her n daddy raised him after my grandparents died" he replied... He sees the skeptical look on her face and attempts to reassure her.

"Just give him a chance... You'll see he's cool people" he said and she doesn't respond but looks out of the passenger side window instead.

We got to our destination and pulled up to a huge victorian styled house. The porch isn't screened in and it completely surrounds the house. There's a neon pink sign in the shape of a hand with an eye in the center of it on one of the windows. We got out of the RV and I stood and observed for a moment... The air feels different.. Crisper.. And less humid. I can smell lemon grass and lavender as we approach the stairs.

"She lives here?" I say in awe of my surroundings as I climb up the stairs

"Sure does.. Me and your aunts used to love staying the summers here" my mom replied with her eyes lost in nostalgia

My dad knocks on the door and we hear movement inside. A woman with long silvery soft hair who really doesn't look very old in the face answered the door. She's wearing a long floral dress and a necklace adorned with pretty orange and blue beads.

"Lawwd look what de cat dragged in!" she exclaimed with a very deep and raspy voice.. I'm stunned as the voice doesn't match the lady before me.

She hugs us all very tight and then positions herself to the side of the door..
"Yall come on in hea n have a seat" she says and the three of us go inside..

The inside of Mama Laura's house is even more amazing than outside.. There's cherry wood floors and a long stairwell beginning from the foyer. The furniture is old fashioned but well kept, and the walls are covered with big portraits of whom I assume are relatives...

My mom n dad are talking and catching up with Mama Laura.. I'm not paying attention to anything they're saying as my curious nature directs me to the pictures on the walls.

Some of the pictures looks like paintings and the people in them are dressed in clothes like they wear on the westerns Grandpa watches. I smiled when I came across a picture of Grandma Marie with Momma and her sisters when they were little. I began to notice that all of the women in the pictures looks similar no matter their complexion.. Some with dark hair and some with red hair like my mom's.. I always thought momma looked just like Grandma Marie and have been told lots of times that I look like my mom... I'm beginning to see that our looks are a genetic trait..

I continue scaling the walls when I come across a black n white picture of a little girl around my age who looks EXACTLY like me! I don't remember taking this picture... and I don't have a dress like the one she's wearing either.

"Well I guess I'd better head back... Just call the house when you're ready for me to pick y'all up" I hear my dad say as he gets up from the couch.. "Mama Laura its good seeing you again.. I wont be a stranger while we're here this week." He assures her

"You bet not!.. Or I'll have to git ma belt!" She jokingly chastises and laughs

I'm too stuck on the picture of what looks like me to turn around and say goodbye to my dad... "Bye daddy" I said without taking my eyes off of the picture

I hear someone walk up to me and stand beside me. I look up and see its Mama Laura.. "When did I take this picture?" I asked in confusion

She laughed and bent down a little to hug me tight. She gently pulled from her embrace and adoringly looked at me.. "Dats not you suga... Dat lil gal is me.." she replied and my jaw dropped...

I looked at the picture one more time and then looked back at her before responding..

"WOW!!.. I'm gonna be really pretty when I get old!" I exclaimed wide eyed and mouth opened 

The house was filled with a roar of laughter as my mom and my great grandma enjoyed a heart felt laugh at my response.