Page 130 - Demo

2030-JONE
“Oh honey,” Jennifer whispered.
“In spite of that, I fought loving you at every turn.”
“But why?” Jennifer wondered aloud.
“In my heart, I didn’t want anyone to replace my real mom.
And I didn’t think you would accept me being black.”
“I think you know by now that I don’t care about your color.
Besides, people are people—not colors.”
“I found myself loving you and hating myself for being weak
enough to let you come between Mom and me. I think when you swept the floor with me, my butt hitting the floor knocked some sense into me. It’s the one move that helped me escape from the killer.”
“Well, I also have a confession to make. When I married your father and you didn’t accept me right away, I knew a fight between us was coming. The only thing I sort of envisioned dif- ferently was my butt being the one on the floor.”
Both smiled faintly at each other.
“I love you, Mom. I always have—just like I’ve always known you would look out for me no matter what. I’ll try to never let you down again.”
“Honey, I’ve always known you loved me just like I knew one day you’d realize my love for you. I knew it would take time because you are, after all, your father’s daughter. And that means that sometimes you have to let the fruit come forth in its own time. I was willing to wait because I knew it would take time for you to realize our love for each other. Believe it or not, when I was a young woman, I was sort of a hammerhead too. So I know it takes time.”
Visara pulled into a parking spot and stopped.
“We will wait here a few minutes to make sure no one is on us,” she told them.
“Mom, I really miss the boys, especially the way they always clung to my neck.”
Jennifer started crying harder remembering the last time she held them in her arms.
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