Find Me In the Club (more teasing pages 2- 4)

I rushed and made my bed and did a few other things to tidy up. I grabbed my basketball and made an attempt to leave the house.

“Mom, I’m going across the street to Roni’s and then go to the playground!” I yelled from the screen door.

“No, you’re not! You’re coming back in this house to wash up and change before your grandmother gets here.”

I stomped back into the house and up the stairs.

“Mom, I’m 17 years old you don’t have to tell me to bathe; I bathe twice a day. Your yelling that through the house was embarrassing. I know that nosy old bat next door loved hearing that.”

“Well, if you weren't so disrespectful..”

“Disrespectful?!”  I yelled cutting her off mid-sentence.

“How was I disrespectful?”

“Let’s start with the fact that you cut me off mid-sentence, then let’s follow it up with the fact that you insist upon yelling through the house, ignoring the fact that I’m your mother   a position that should entitle me to face to face conversation and last, but by no mean least, I raised you better than to refer to your elders as something other than Mr. or Mrs.” She said, while giving me that motherly laser beam, bore a hole through you stare.

I knew my mother was right and I knew that she was under stress waiting for Aunt Delores and I didn't want to add to her burden.

“I’m sorry Ma, you’re right. I didn't mean to be disrespectful. I was trying to get out of the house. I love grandma to pieces but I really can’t stomach Aunt Delores and her judgmental comments and digs. I really hate the fact that she quotes the bible while she’s saying all the hateful things. I can only imagine what grandma hears all day. I bet she makes her feel bad for aging and living so long.”

“Aunt Delores is going to be who she is dear we just have to leave her to God.”

“He can have her. You know she ain’t right and she uses God like a 38…shoots you down and give you last rites at the same time.  I just want grandma to be in peace. You know I've been thinking, you should take grandma in. I’m going to college this fall and you could use the company; move the laundry stuff out on the back porch and convert the laundry room so grandma doesn't have to do stairs.”

“You know that’s not a half bad idea. One thing for sure is that it would cut down on a whole bunch of unnecessary chatter. Go, get changed and we’ll talk about it a little more before Delores and Madea get here.

Mom had no sooner finished the sentence when the phone rang; my aunt was on the phone announcing she was at the market around the corner because she had to get a few items for her Sunday dinner. I did not hear her ask my mother if she needed anything. My aunt had to make a production out of all of her activities and more so if they involved my grandmother.  I gave my mother a disgusted look in response to the phone call and headed off for my shower.

I was just stepping out of the shower when I heard my aunt’s car pull into the driveway. I knew I had about 10 minutes to get dressed because my aunt had to make another production about getting my grandmother out of the car.  

Grandma is a short and stocky woman; it’s not that she struggled with extreme mobility issues. Grandma had a little arthritis which was normal for a 75 year old. The car’s bucket seats were cut too deep for grandma to exit the car and that’s what slowed her down but to hear my aunt tell it grandma needed a walker or a wheelchair.

I went to the front stoop to help grandma into the house.

“Hi Grams! Look at you in your sweat suit and tennis shoes. I’ll race you after lunch.” I said while giving my grandmother a big hug.

“I’ll bet I’ll win too. You know I’m fast” she said with a wink.

My grandmother returned my hug with a long lingering hug.

“I love your hugs grandma, the world is right when I get a hug from you.” 

“Come on child let’s go in the house and get busy before these two hens I raised get to peckin’ at one another on the street. You know something or somebody gotta be wrong if I take too long getting to where they want me to be.” She said with a chuckle because she knew that the conversation would only be pleasant for a moment.

Grandma made it up the few stairs with ease and made her way to the recliner with no effort in her steps at all.

“Grams, you working out or something? You’re moving pretty smooth.”

“My doctor signed me up for six weeks of physical therapy and I take yoga classes to keep me flexible.”

“Well, keep it up, it’s working.”

“I drive her to her physical therapy because the appointment is too early for the medi-van.” My aunt chimed in.

Here we go! I thought to myself; my aunt wasn't even in the room good before she started in with her “vapors.”

I caught a glimpse of my mother rolling her eyes as my aunt spoke. Mama was busy setting the table for lunch. She had her hands full with a pitcher of lemonade and another of iced tea.

“Tilda, I need to put my groceries in your freezer until I get ready to go home.”

I hadn’t heard my mother’s name spoken since my uncle Bert came to visit for a month. He always pronounced it with a certain amount of sweetness; often calling her Tildy. My aunt had the softness and tone of a Marine drill sergeant. I cringed at the sound of her simple request.

“Denise, make yourself useful and take this bag in there for me.”

My grandmother picked up on my body language and shot me a quick reassuring glace.

I walked past my mother in the kitchen and shoved the bag in the freezer with enough force to rock the entire unit. My mother didn't look up because she heard the exchange and she was trying to brace herself for the brewing storm.

Lunch went well and my mother and Aunt Delores agreed to a timeline for house renovations to accommodate grandma without a great deal of argument. My Aunt almost seemed to be pleasant and smiling when all was said and done; I say almost because she managed to get a few cheap shots at me about school and basketball before leaving.

I sat and chatted with my mother for the rest of the evening. My mother confided in me just how much grandma’s transition meant to her. She was happy with the fact that she didn't have to deal with Delores’ guilt trips and jabs. She was also happy to have the company since I was going away to college.