The Pride – page 4
“Go get the Vaseline, Kelvin, so I can put it on your lips.” As Kelvin did as he was told, he tried very hard not to let her hear him cry. He knew bed-wetting wouldn’t get him spanked but crying like a baby would. He knew his mother hated whining and crying from anyone who wasn’t in diapers. Angela pretended not to hear Kelvin’s stifled sobs. Even though she was a grown woman now, she remembered how awful the few hours before bedtime was. She seemed to be her most thirsty just at the time she was denied liquids. She felt like her mother hated her, and she was sure she was making her son feel the same way.
Angela didn’t want to deny Kelvin something as basic as juice, but she couldn’t afford to replace his mattress again, and then there were those extra trips to the laundromat. The worst of it was how badly his lips dried and cracked during the night; even worse than hers used to. A doctor once told her it was because the food she served her children was highly processed and high in sodium. She told that doctor she bought what her food stamps would cover, and she couldn’t eat fancy like him and if he wanted her children to eat better he could give her some money to buy better food. The doctor also suggested Angela stop using petroleum jelly on Kelvin’s lips, and she asked the doctor if he planned to also give her money for Burt’s Bees Lip Balm. Since the doctor didn’t volunteer to supplement Angela’s income for either better-quality food or the Burt’s Bees Lip Balm, she continued to feed her children the same and using the petroleum jelly on Kelvin’s lips.
“Girl, let me call you back.” Angela hung up the phone just as her twins rushed into the room, each of the five-year-olds putting their little chests against one of her knees. In unison, they whispered loudly, “Momma, Kelvin’s cryin’ again.”
“Stop being tattle-tails,” Angela said softly. The boys moved their faces closer to their mother’s face because she was whispering, too. “Go help Kelvin with the Vaseline and say somethin’ nice to him.”
“OK,” they said in unison and dashed off towards their mother’s bedroom. As the boys left the room, the front door flew open and Sonjie ran in with Marcus still wailing on her hip. Sonjie quickly shut the door and slammed her back against it.
“Has he been cryin’ this whole time, Sonjie? Why you let him keep cryin’ like…” Angela stopped mid-sentence when she noticed the shocked look on Sonjie’s face.
“Ma…” Sonjie looked like she wanted to say more, but the words wouldn’t come.
“Sonjie, what’s wrong with you?” Angela jumped off the couch and zipped over to her daughter.
“Ma…” Sonjie started breathing fast.
“Sonjie. Calm down. You scarin’ me!” She grabbed for Marcus but Sonjie had a vice grip on the baby and wouldn’t let him go.
“Tell me what’s wrong, Sonjie? Are you hurt? Did somebody try to do somethin’ to you?!?!”
“Ma, there’s a lady coming down the street, Ma, and I swear to Go…”
“Sonjie, don’t take the Lord’s name in vain!” Angela looked sternly at her daughter not caring that she was in distress if she was going to forget herself about God.