Page 62 of Heart Of A Goon II

Silence filled the space before she broke out into laughter. “Yuh too facety, gyal,” she spoke in patois. “I like it.”

“Sorry… I call it how I see things and I’m a little blunt at times, I’m sorry.” I grabbed the towel that was on the sink. “Well, how in the world were you going to reach this?”

“Gyal, this is why I’m sitting here in pain now.” She chuckled, as she accepted the towel from me, and wrapped it around her body.

I helped her slowly turn out of the tub, putting her leg over the side. Once she was on the correct side of the tub, she rested for a minute. “I bet you hate everyone treating you like you’re helpless.”

“My boys act like I didn’t raise them and don’t get me started on my sister,” she sucked her teeth. It had to be a Caribbean thing because I’ve seen Jean Delgato do the same thing.

It was this quick suck of the teeth when something was done or said they didn’t agree on. I was learning that Sharon did the same exact thing, and then she had this side eye that matched it.

“I’m here and I can help you. I don’t feel bad for you, Ms. Sharon,” I told her, letting her know that I didn’t pity her, or look at her any different.

That side eye extended to me. “What I tell yuh in my kitchen?”

I smiled. “Mommy.”

It was funny how quick she could get me in check with just a kiss of the teeth, side eye and demand. She did raise two boys who would ask how high if she told them to jump.

“You know I used to have a six pack?” she switched the subject, as she caressed her hip.

“Girl, quit playing.” I laughed.

“Woo, the boys back home used to be after me. Deddy had to swat them away.” She cracked up thinking about her glory days.

“I’m sure he would be swatting some men away from you now… you still got it.”

She moved her nub. “Even with this?”

“Now, you playing too much.” I bursted into laughter, as she looked at me with such pride and gratefulness in her eyes.

I was raised around looks being the words that were never said. From the way she looked at me, I could tell a silent thank you from a mile away.

“Men are too foolish. The boy’s father did enough foolishness to last me a lifetime.” She shook her head, as I passed her the body butter.

I smiled. “At least you raised your sons to be the opposite of foolishness.”

Whenever her boys were mentioned, she always became serious. Her job as a mother, even now, she took seriously. It was something that I admired, because no matter how old those men were, they were her boys. Motherhood didn’t stop because kids became adults.

“No matter how much bad Goo has done in the streets, his heart is pure. I know if he had his eye on you, then you have one, too.”

I grabbed her clothes she had laid out on the counter. “He wore me down. Your son doesn’t give up.”

“Never. He convinced me that he needed some mountain boots all the kids were wearing when he was younger. I took him back home to visit, and the pickney had the boots on with his shorts.”

I snorted, thinking of Gerald wearing boots in hot ass Jamaica. “What in the world?”

“His grandparents had to pry the boots away from him. Jamaica has always been home for him, even though he was born here. He lived there for the first few years of his life.”

“Why?”

“I was a new mother trying to get established here in the states. I didn’t have help from his father and knew he would be better off with my parents back home. It gave me a headstart, so when he came back, I had an apartment, job and everything lined up to be the best mother he needed.”

“Must have been hard.”

She took a deep sigh. “So hard. We didn’t have all that fancy technology that you pickney’s have now. I had to rely on letters and photographs. My parents live way out in the countryside in Jamaica. I visited whenever I could.”

I smiled. “Your relationship with both your boys is so close… are you close with Inez, too?”