Authors: Faith
Chapter 8
Poe called his mother once again, and again she didn’t answer so he sent her a text:
Mother, I need to talk to you. I saw my sisters. We need to talk!”
Then his cell phone rang. It was Lilith. “Hello?” he answered.
“Poe?”
“Yes, Mother. It’s about time you returned my phone calls.”
“Boy, this is not the time for an attitude. Your brother and I need your help.”
“Of course you do. What do you need?”
“I need for you to come to us. I’ll text you a list of what we need. So you say you saw your sisters? Where are they?”
“They’re here in the city.”
“Where at?”
“Mother, I’ve been calling you for days and days. You didn’t even have the common courtesy to call me back, and now you want me to tell you to just tell where your girls are? Figures!”
“Fine! I don’t care anyway. Those ungrateful heifers betrayed me. So, are you going to betray your mother too?”
“Mother, I would never do that to you.”
“That’s good to know. I’ll send you a text as soon as we get off.”
“Anything for you, Mother. “
“I’ll see you soon.”
________
Lilith and Damien tried to relax in a cheap hotel. They needed money to get out of town, but their accounts were frozen. Lilith had missed her court date, and Damien was wanted for questioning in two shootings. And to add insult to injury, not one Blanks was killed in the fire. Their plans had backfired.
“Do you think you can trust him?” Damien asked, looking at his mother suspiciously.
“Who, Poe? That boy will do anything I say,” she bragged at the amount of control she had over him.
“Your daughters used to do whatever you said too, and we see how that turned out.”
Lilith didn’t appreciate that comment one bit. “Watch your mouth, idiot! We wouldn’t even be stuck in this hell hole if you would have been a better shot. We could be somewhere nice and relaxing, so you just shut your mouth!” She grabbed a Newport and lit it.
“You know what? I’m not like them! You will not talk to me like I’m stupid, you bitch!” Damien spat at her.
Lilith dropped her cigarette in the ash tray and jumped up out of her chair. She got in Damien’s face and began screaming obscenities at him.
Damien threw her up against the wall and grabbed her by her throat.
“What you gonna do? What you gonna do, huh?” she hissed, getting pleasure out of taunting him.
Damien released his grip and she slid down the wall. “As soon as we get this money, I’m done! You’re on your own! You’re so stupid that you don’t even get it. Jezebel was right. We all need to get away from your ass. You are poison to your own children.”
Getting up from off the floor Lilith was enraged. As soon as she got to her feet she started beating on him with everything in her.
Damien was shocked by her attack, but he didn’t hold back. He slapped her as hard as he could.
The two fell back on the bed, wrestling back and forth. Lilith was strong for her age, but Damien was stronger. He grabbed her by arms, pinned her down on the bed and slapped her again. She was kicking and screaming, but he didn’t care. He unbuckled his pants and ripped her panties off. He rammed himself deep inside of his own mother as if she was a whore on the street. Lilith stopped fighting back. Full of rage and anger he pounded her until he came. As soon as he unloaded inside of her, he got up, zipped his pants up, grabbed his bag and left out of the hotel without saying a word.
Lilith laid there on the bed, realizing that she would probably never see him again. Now she was all alone. All of kids had abandoned her, all except Poe, even though she didn’t really count him. The reality of the situation hit, and she covered her face and screamed.
________
Damien drove around looking for someone to hurt. He was fed up with everything, and he was getting the hell out of North Carolina. He didn’t have a lot of money on him, but he had enough to leave. He thought about reaching out to his sisters, but decided against it. The way he was feeling, they were safer with him not being around.
The fight he had with Lilith replayed in his mind. For so many years she had a hold on him.
No one will ever love you the way Mother does,
she would always say to him.
Humph! The bitch is crazy, and I was just as crazy for going along with her for all of these years,
he thought to himself.
So many thoughts flooded his mind, like the time she caught him having sex with his girlfriend when he was fourteen. She busted in the room like a mad woman, cursing and throwing his girlfriend out. She flew into a rage more like a jealous lover instead of a disrespected mother. Lilith had slapped his face and threw him down on the bed. She removed her panties and lifted up her dress. She climbed on top of him and literally rode him into submission.
“No one can love you like mother!”
she had told him.
Damn! I should have got the hell out of Dodge then
!
That lady is insane, and I’m just as screwed up.
Full of rage, Damien looked for a victim. Somebody had to pay for his pain. Then his phone went off and he read the text:
“If you don’t get your ass back here, I will make sure everyone knows that you raped me! Don’t play with me! Get back here now!”
The text sent Damien over the edge.
She will never let me go!
He stared down at the gun that he kept on the passenger seat. Something snapped inside of his mind, and at that moment he decided that there was only one way out.
________
Poe pulled into the parking lot of the cheap hotel and called his mother’s phone to let her know that he had arrived. He gathered all the grocery bags and Chinese food, exited the car and closed the door with his hip.
Lilith stood in the doorway watching her son struggle, but didn’t budge to help. She moved out of his way so that he could enter the room. He placed the Chinese food on the table and placed the six bags of groceries on the floor.
“Boy, don’t put those bags on this dirty floor!” she fussed.
Poe shook his head at his ungrateful mother. “Gee, you’re welcome!” he said sarcastically, and then positioned all of the bags on the tiny table.
Sitting down at the table, Lilith opened the bag with the Chinese food in it and looked through it to make sure her order was correct.
Poe looked around the small room. “Where’s Damien?” he asked.
Lilith shrugged her shoulders. She seemed to be more interested in the food that was in front of her. “Hell if I know!” she finally said.
“Did you two have another argument? I swear, y’all argue like an old married couple.”
She cut her eyes at him, and then went back to eating her food.
“So, what’s the plan? You can’t stay here forever, Mother.”
“You think I don’t know that?” she said with a mouth full of food.
“Look, I’m just trying to help.” Poe wondered why he even bothered with this woman. It was obvious that she was never going to love him.
“I need some money,” Lilith demanded.
Poe sighed.
Here we go again!
he thought to himself. “How much do you need, Mother?” He felt disgusted as he watched his mother stuff her face as if she was starving to death. Lilith was a pretty woman, but at this moment she looked like a nasty pig to him. The disgust must have showed on his face, because she looked at him and asked why he was looking at her like that.
“I can make a good $20,000 work,” she said like nonchalantly, as if she had just asked for a $20 bill.
Poe couldn’t believe the audacity of this woman. “Twenty thousand dollars is a lot of money. You know that, right?” he said to her.
She dismissed him with wave of her hand. “Twenty thousand dollars ain’t nothing for you. You got all that Blanks money, so now you need to break bread with Mother.”
“What are you talking about? What Blanks money?”
Lilith leaned back in her chair, did a low growl and put her plastic fork down on her napkin. “Boy, don’t try to play me. Now, you know that those people have millions of dollars, and you are entitled to your fair share, thanks to me of course. So you just make sure you show some appreciation this way.”
Poe’s jaws clenched up. He wanted to beat her in her head. The woman was a narcissistic psychopath. He could feel his blood boiling again.
“What? You think you’re too good now because you met ya people? Humph! You ain’t shit, they ain’t shit, ain’t none of y’all shit! Remember that when you’re looking down your nose at me boy!”
“What are you talking about? First off, my name is Poe, not boy. I stopped being a boy a long time ago. Maybe you would know that if you had cared to be around. Secondly, you lied! Rev. Edwin Blanks Sr. is not my father. The DNA test came back as 0% probability. So why don’t you enlighten me so I can have some type of peace, and tell me who my father is?” It felt good to snap back at her for change.
The look on Lilith’s face was priceless. She was taken aback by his response, and it took her a minute to gather herself. “You better remember who the hell you talking to, boy! Oh, I’m sorry…
Poe!
” Lilith smirked. “Let me tell you something. I told you who your daddy is. Now, them people, they got money. They probably had the DNA test altered. See, I know those people. I know how they operate. So, go get you another test and make sure they don’t get their hands on it. Yep, that’s what you do. Then you can get that money.”
“You just won’t stop will you? What is wrong with you? That man is
not
my father. They didn’t alter any test, and you are delusional.” If looks could kill, Poe would be dead and buried.
“I am your mother, and you will respect me!” she screamed.
“I have done nothing but respect you. I have respected you my entire life. I respected you when you abandoned me as a baby. I respected you when you got married and still didn’t come get me. I respected you when I would hear Grandma Mae talking about how you were in town and you didn’t even bother to come see me. So, how about you show
me
a little respect, huh?” He then looked around the small room and asked, “Where are all your babies at, huh? Where are they at? Do you see them? Because I don’t. But guess what? I’m here; the bastard child; the throwaway. So, save that speech for the children that you actually raised and miss me with all of that!”
The expression on Lilith’s face made him brace himself for a physical attack. The more he looked into her eyes, the more he realized that there was nothing there.
Damn! She’s the walking dead… dead from the neck down.
“Since I caused you so much pain and heartache, I will gladly get out of your life. But look around. I’m broke! If I had access to my money do you think that I would be sitting here talking to you? No! I would be in the wind. So what do you need? You need me to sign something? Fine, I’ll sign something. I just need to get the hell out of here. So, are you going to help me out or not?”
“You are unbelievable!” He shook his head in disbelief as he got up from his chair and walked towards the door.
“When can I expect the money?” she asked, and continued eating. She didn’t even turn around to address him properly.
“I’ll see what I can do.” Poe opened the door and slammed it behind him. His walk to his car felt heavy he was so mad. He opened the glove compartment and pulled his gun out. Staring at the gun, he contemplated his next move.
________
Mama Eloise walked into the rehab center where Bernice was staying. When she walked into her room, the Certified Nursing Assistant was trying to get her to eat. “Miss Watkins, if you don’t eat, honey, we’re going to have to put a tube in you, and you don’t want that. Please eat for me, Mrs. Watkins,” the nurse was saying.
“I see somebody is being difficult,” Mama Eloise said. She walked over and put the containers of food she brought on the tray.
“Yes, Ma’am, she is. They’re going to put a tube in her soon is she doesn’t eat.”
“Well, can she swallow?” Mama Eloise asked and squinted her eyes at her friend.
“Yes, Ma’am. All tests show that physically, there is nothing keeping her from eating. I just don’t know what to do. It’s like she’s giving up.”
“Baby girl, move on out the way and let me show you show you how it’s done.”
The nurse stepped aside.
“Bernice, I don’t have time for this nonsense now, you hear me? I didn’t come through a fire to bury my best friend, so any thoughts the enemy has put into your head about giving up has got to go, in the name of Jesus! A’ight?” Then she he turned to the young lady and said, “Baby girl, open those containers for me will you?”
The nurse did as she was told, and the delicious aroma of good old fashioned soul food filled the room. “Oh my Lord!” she sighed.