Mama by Terry McMillan

Author:Terry McMillan [McMillan, Terry]
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
Tags: General, 77new, Fiction
ISBN: 9780547524047
Google: hueW7ggu6EkC
Amazon: 0671884484
Publisher: Pocket Books
Published: 1987-01-16T05:00:00+00:00

Eleven

"DO I WANNA COME to Los Angeles? Is the sky blue? Do a bear shit in the woods?" There was no doubt in Mildred's mind whether or not to accept Freda's invitation. Hell, she'd seen a rat the size of a cat run under her bed, the front porch had finally caved in and torn off part of the roof in the living room, and to top it off, the septic tank had backed up and the toilet wouldn't flush. Mildred had felt so hard-pressed that she went ahead and moved into the projects. And Money had almost driven her crazy. He had stayed in and out of trouble and was just finishing six months at Ionia Men's Facility, which was a nice way of saying prison. He was coming home next week, but Mildred was glad she wasn't going to be here.

She asked Faye Love if she could borrow two of her good suitcases. Mildred never was one to let a man come between friends, although nothing ever came of Faye and Spooky. Faye, who had been to California before, was extremely jealous when Mildred told her. "You won't like it. I can tell you that right now," she said. "It's too damn hot, too big, and everythang is so spread out, you gotta ride in a car just to go to the grocery store. You better pray on your mama's grave there ain't no earthquakes when you get out there. Be just your luck, wouldn't it, Milly?"

"Chile, I'm ready for a earthquake and a hurricane and a tor nado, if it'll get me the hell away from here for a few weeks. And you can keep your thoughts to yourself, Faye. A herd of cattle couldn't stop me from getting on that plane. And don't let me hit the number before I leave. Hot damn!"

Mildred dipped into her rent money to buy a decent pair of white pumps and matching purse, a half slip, a couple of cotton panties, and a push-up bra. She knew she wouldn't get evicted from the projects. Everybody was always behind anyway.

Curly Mae let Mildred borrow four of her best summer dresses. "Chile," Curly said, rummaging through her closet to find something else Mildred might want to take with her, "if one of my kids was to get near a college and send me a one-way ticket to hell, I'd be out of here so fast, you wouldn't see nothing but the trail of dust behind me! You ought to be proud, Milly, you raised them kids right. I can't understand what's happened to old knuckleheaded Money, but you know how boys are. You hit the jackpot with them girls, though. Just keep it up."

What Curly had said about the girls was almost true, but not quite. Mildred thought Bootsey was getting too grown, and it was getting so that Mildred had to smack her every now and then just to let her know she wasn't as grown as she thought. She was always trying to prove she could do things better than Freda.

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