for buying a phone with so
many headsets. “I mean, we lived in a one bedroom apartment. Why
did he have to have so many phones?”
She snatched
the phone from the coffee table and considered letting it go to
voicemail. But then she remembered that it had been two weeks since she’d
last spoken to her family…to anyone, really. A small part of her realized
that it might have been an emergency.
Before she
changed her mind, she hit the TALK button. “Yes, hello?” she barked.
“Fe- fe ?” Her mother high-pitched Haitian accent filled
the line. “Where have you been? I have been worried sick! I
called you so many times! I came by your place, called your friends, and
called your work. Your boss told me you took a sudden vacation.
Your other boss told me you quit! Why did you quit your second
job? How will we pay for the wedding? Me and your brother came to
your place and could hear music, but you wouldn’t open the door. I knew
you should have given me a copy of your keys. What if something happened
to you? Why are you off from work? Why are you not answering your
phone or door? Why—”
Phoenix grabbed
her head. “Mom! Look I’m sorry,” she mumbled. “I am sorry. I
just needed some time to myself.”
“Time to
yourself? What in God’s name are you talking about? And why do you sound
like that? Are you sick? Where’s that man you live with? I
called his phone so many times and he never returned my calls! Did that
man do something to you?”
Phoenix almost
chucked at her mother calling Cedric ‘that man.’” She disliked Cedric ever
since their first meeting and refused to call him by name. Her mother, a
woman of her word, had said that she would never speak his name until he got a
job and married her, instead of being her live-in boyfriend who lived off of
her. She blamed Cedric for causing Phoenix to do the very thing she had
been raised never to do—live with man out of wedlock. In spite of her
displeasure with Cedric, she was thrilled her daughter would finally be
married, having believed Phoenix would never capture the attention of a man as
handsome as Cedric. She had hoped Cedric’s gorgeous mixture of
African-American, Indian-Trinidadian, Chinese, and Caucasian roots would be
passed down to her grandchildren. It was that hope that had fueled her
decision to borrow against her retirement fund to help pay for their wedding.
Taking a
breath, Phoenix blurted, “No, Maman , he’s not
here. I asked him to leave.”
Silence.
“Mom?” Phoenix
cringed. She was grateful that the vodka was making this
conversation bearable. “Mom?”
“But you’re supposed
to be getting married! I didn’t like it, but you might as well, after
living with him, and taking care of him, for the past couple of years.
Cedric has taken your youth, and your money, and now you will not give him your
hand in marriage? You kids are backwards, I swear it. Why would you
wait until now to break it off? Now, after I’ve spent so much money,
after members of your family have scheduled vacation time from work and bought
plane tickets to attend this wedding? Why now? I don’t understand
how—”
“Mom!” Phoenix
shouted. Struggling to get her voice in check, she gulped more
vodka. “Look, I am sorry I worried you, but I don’t want to talk about
Cedric. Just know that the wedding is off, alright? That’s all I
want to say right now. As far as talking about it goes? I don’t
want to, okay?”
Her mother
gasped. “Oh! Listen to the way this girl speaks to her own
mother. Oh yeah, Fe-Fe? After what you’ve put me through, you will be talking about it, and I mean today. ‘ Tende ? (You hear me?) I expect you here in one hour, you get it?” She slammed the
phone down.
“How many times
do I have to tell you, Ma, that the expression is ‘got it?’ not ‘you get
it?’” Phoenix held the phone, staring at
many headsets. “I mean, we lived in a one bedroom apartment. Why
did he have to have so many phones?”
She snatched
the phone from the coffee table and considered letting it go to
voicemail. But then she remembered that it had been two weeks since she’d
last spoken to her family…to anyone, really. A small part of her realized
that it might have been an emergency.
Before she
changed her mind, she hit the TALK button. “Yes, hello?” she barked.
“Fe- fe ?” Her mother high-pitched Haitian accent filled
the line. “Where have you been? I have been worried sick! I
called you so many times! I came by your place, called your friends, and
called your work. Your boss told me you took a sudden vacation.
Your other boss told me you quit! Why did you quit your second
job? How will we pay for the wedding? Me and your brother came to
your place and could hear music, but you wouldn’t open the door. I knew
you should have given me a copy of your keys. What if something happened
to you? Why are you off from work? Why are you not answering your
phone or door? Why—”
Phoenix grabbed
her head. “Mom! Look I’m sorry,” she mumbled. “I am sorry. I
just needed some time to myself.”
“Time to
yourself? What in God’s name are you talking about? And why do you sound
like that? Are you sick? Where’s that man you live with? I
called his phone so many times and he never returned my calls! Did that
man do something to you?”
Phoenix almost
chucked at her mother calling Cedric ‘that man.’” She disliked Cedric ever
since their first meeting and refused to call him by name. Her mother, a
woman of her word, had said that she would never speak his name until he got a
job and married her, instead of being her live-in boyfriend who lived off of
her. She blamed Cedric for causing Phoenix to do the very thing she had
been raised never to do—live with man out of wedlock. In spite of her
displeasure with Cedric, she was thrilled her daughter would finally be
married, having believed Phoenix would never capture the attention of a man as
handsome as Cedric. She had hoped Cedric’s gorgeous mixture of
African-American, Indian-Trinidadian, Chinese, and Caucasian roots would be
passed down to her grandchildren. It was that hope that had fueled her
decision to borrow against her retirement fund to help pay for their wedding.
Taking a
breath, Phoenix blurted, “No, Maman , he’s not
here. I asked him to leave.”
Silence.
“Mom?” Phoenix
cringed. She was grateful that the vodka was making this
conversation bearable. “Mom?”
“But you’re supposed
to be getting married! I didn’t like it, but you might as well, after
living with him, and taking care of him, for the past couple of years.
Cedric has taken your youth, and your money, and now you will not give him your
hand in marriage? You kids are backwards, I swear it. Why would you
wait until now to break it off? Now, after I’ve spent so much money,
after members of your family have scheduled vacation time from work and bought
plane tickets to attend this wedding? Why now? I don’t understand
how—”
“Mom!” Phoenix
shouted. Struggling to get her voice in check, she gulped more
vodka. “Look, I am sorry I worried you, but I don’t want to talk about
Cedric. Just know that the wedding is off, alright? That’s all I
want to say right now. As far as talking about it goes? I don’t
want to, okay?”
Her mother
gasped. “Oh! Listen to the way this girl speaks to her own
mother. Oh yeah, Fe-Fe? After what you’ve put me through, you will be talking about it, and I mean today. ‘ Tende ? (You hear me?) I expect you here in one hour, you get it?” She slammed the
phone down.
“How many times
do I have to tell you, Ma, that the expression is ‘got it?’ not ‘you get
it?’” Phoenix held the phone, staring at
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