The counselor

Chapter VIII

External - Morning - Private beach

It's been 3 days since John's death, Taz had him cremated and held a private service for him, it was a few friends from the neighborhood they grew up with that were part of the service. Everyone we're talking about their memories and just coping with things and then all of a sudden, this woman appears out of nowhere, everyone felt confused and was wondering who's this mysterious woman that's walking in this all black outfit and rose in the hand. Taz said:

                                    Taz (on screen)
"Excuse us ma'am but this is a private moment right now, how do you know about this place?"

                         John's Mom (on screen)
"I'm sorry to walk here without an invitation and I know you don't know me but I'm John's mom, I found this place out because of John, we've been here before and he felt so peaceful here when we last seen each other. Are you Taz?"

                                     Taz (on screen)
«with a confused look»
"Yes I am but your...his mother? Naw I can't believe that, he never spoke of you before... naw naw this ain't right, huh?"

                              John's Mom (on screen)
"Yes, I heard that you're a counselor and I want to talk to you."

                                   Taz (on screen)
"About what?"

                           John's Mom (on screen)
«steps up and takes her shades off»
"My son! My story! I know he ain't never speak of me because we've only seen each other once but we've spoke on the phone many times afterwards."

                                   Taz (on screen)
"Okay some other time."

                        John's Mom (on screen)
"So right now ain't a perfect time to talk about my son who's ashes you have in that urn?"

Everyone was in disbelief by what she said, puzzled, confused, it was blasphemy to a lot of those that heard what she said. Everyone fell into an outrage, one person burst out:

                                Friend #1 (on screen)
"Man she fucking lying!"

                               Friend #2 (on screen)
"John ain't speak of her or nothing, don't do it Taz, don't listen to her, she could be lying."

                                  Taz (on screen)
"She could be...but y'all chill out real quick (turns to John's Mom) follow me."

He walked her away from everyone so they could talk, better to do it without the other voices, Taz is a man who listens and studies a person to figure out if their words are legit or not. Sean's Mom opened up a piece of paper and showed it to him, it was Sean's birth certificate, along with her I.D. and more information to prove she's his birth mother, Taz asked:

                                      Taz (on screen)
"Why now? I never heard him speak of you, I took him in when we were kids, he's been in and out of the system but he did alright for himself. He changed his life and helped people who been in and out of prison. He told me about his adoptive parents, the many different ones he had but he was my friend and I had to made sure he was good. So why show up now?"

                               John's Mom (on screen)
"We've been in communication for 2 months, getting to know each other and We've planned to see each other the day he was killed, that was our last conversation."

                                   Taz (on screen)
"Why did you give him up?"

                            Sean's Mom (on screen)
"I wasn't ready. I was young, I had him at 16, his father left because he figured having a child at 17 would ruin his chances of getting into the college he went to play football for. My mother wasn't having it, my daddy lived in Seattle with his wife, he wanted me to come and live with him but I didn't know how to get to him, so I was asking family members that I believed would help me take care of him. I was out of options and I was hopeless, I couldn't get a job, my mother's thing was 'if you can have sex, you can take care of your responsibility' but I looked at it like 'you're my mother, why not help me?' So I looked into adoption, I looked into a lot of families carefully so when the day came of him being born, the right family would have him. When he was born, I signed his birth certificate, held him all day and then the next day, the family got him, he cried cause I didn't have my baby no more but I knew I was going to see him again. Two years had passed and I had a enough money for my own apartment and I wanted him back...I went to the first family he had and they had put him into the system because of whatever family issues were going on. I've tried and tried so many times to find him but I wanted my son back. I went years without knowing where he was, I worked hard to get my own place, I took up many jobs, saved up enough money to give to him as he got older so if like he wanted to go to college or something, I could pay for a year of his tuition or something. I just wanted to be there and help out and show him I loved him, I wrote letters for each birthday I assumed he had before we saw one another."

                                          Taz (on screen)
"Okay so answer this, how did y'all meet?"

                            Sean's Mom (on screen)
"We was both at the market and we had bumped into each other accidentally , he knocked my stuff out my hand and he helped me get my things up from the floor and then I stared at him, he looked familiar and I knew he didn't recognize me, he had the same ears like mines, same smile like mines and the same eyebrows as mines & then I said his name 'Sean?' He responded 'how you know me?' And I responded 'do you know your mother?' Then he said 'no, do you know her? You're talking about my birth mom or the many  ones that came and gone?' So I reached in my purse and gave him the same stuff I gave you. We cried together and then he paid for our groceries and we drove to this exact location and talked about everything that he could ask. He looked so calm, so handsome, he was so smart, it felt good to see my baby, to hug my son, to say all the things I wanted to say to him. He mentioned you as well."

                                  Taz (on screen)
"Me?"

                        John's Mom (on screen)
"Yup. He said if anything ever happened to him, go to you and talk to you, he considered you as his family and wanted us to know each other. All I ask for is to know the memories you have of my son. Okay?"

                                     Taz (on screen)
"Yes ma'am, and I apologize for everything before, it's just right now everyone is emotional about this, including yourself and when you said that, that you're his mother, it messed us up and now that I heard your story and I feel the words, I just want to apologize on their behalf and for my reaction as well."

                         John's Mom (on screen)
"You're fine, I understand, I only feel like a bad mom because I wish I could do things over, been able to raise him myself, do things for him and give him the love that a mother should give to her son, give him knowledge and wisdom and understanding of life. I'm glad he had you in his life, I loved him, I just didn't get the opportunity to prove it... well I should get going. I'm glad I got to tell my story, it's people who would tell me what they would've done but I can only be responsible for what I done."

                                      Taz (on screen)
«hands her the urn»
"Stay with us and you keep him, I can live with the memories of my brother with me forever, you should have him close to you at all times since you didn't get to experience that. You're not a bad mom or bad person, it was the situation but it's understandable, you're not perfect and it's a lot of women who share the same story or similar story and they get judged but who's there to help if all they're doing is judging? So you're not bad at all, I'm happy I got to meet you and he got the chance to as well. Come on let's go and talk to these fools, I'll explain the story to them."