Total pages in book: 121
Estimated words: 112755 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 564(@200wpm)___ 451(@250wpm)___ 376(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 112755 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 564(@200wpm)___ 451(@250wpm)___ 376(@300wpm)
“Every piece of mortar. It came down on all of our heads. I can’t get blood from a turnip, as Grandma always said. I thank you for givin’ me life, though. After all, I used to wanna be dead. Now I’m glad to be here, ’cause of Ms. Florence. If she hadn’t taken an interest in me, and put positive thoughts in my head that I could never forget, God only knows where’d I’d be. She knew how to talk to me. She knew how to get me to think, even when I pretended not to care ’bout what she was sayin’. She instilled critical thinking in me. She encouraged my cooking. I tried to hide that I liked to cook, ’cause I thought it was girly. I didn’t want no association with that, because of what happened to me.
“Ms. Florence was the first person that showed me all of these books filled with chefs and famous cooks who were men! All around the world! They had wives ’nd kids. They had muscles and beards, and they were creating culinary masterpieces! She gave me books and articles. She gave me complicated recipes and used to pay for special groceries, so I could go home and try making different dishes. This woman was my history teacher, Mama. She changed my whole life, even though it didn’t seem like it, considering the trajectory I was on. The results of her love for me showed up later, ’cause here I am. Alive! She ain’t never have no babies of her own. I never knew why, but she indeed had kids, Mama. Hundreds of ’em in that school.
“She ain’t come from nothin’, either. I couldn’t use that as an excuse no mo’e. She told me, Axel, and Caspian about her life as a child. It was rough! She survived. She made it! Her words stuck with me way after her death, even when I was fuckin’ up. I remember cussin’ out God ’cause he didn’t make her my mama instead. I asked that woman to adopt me. I was sixteen years old, damn near grown, and still beggin’ for a mama! How sad! I made her a promise, and I’ll be damned if I don’t fulfill it. So here you go. I told you once, I’m tellin’ you again—from a different mindset. I was molested by three men right under your nose. I tried to tell you about it, and you told me I was full of shit. I didn’t say anything to anyone else until it was well over for years, and I was a teenager.”
“Why’d you wait so long if this really happened, Legend?! Why didn’t you try and talk to someone else if you think I wronged you?”
“Because I was tryna protect my sister! I knew if I was removed from the house, she wouldn’t have nobody!” Mama’s face reddened. “There was no guarantee that they were going to take her, too. I had already seen and heard enough about abuse to see how families were broken up and separated. Luis let me know it could happen, too, and hung it over my head. Even at that young age, I knew children needed protection! I had more of a maternal instinct than you did, and I was a boy. Luis was eventually gone, but he was one of many sickos in this world. I couldn’t take that chance with my sister.”
“What did he do?!”
“Oh, you believe me now?”
“I believe you now, Legend! You used to lie so much and start so much trouble that I—”
“The details are no longer important. All you need to know is that your boyfriend at the time was the ringleader. You brought the devil in our house, and he did what devils do. Now, I’m a devil, too. It’s hot in here, ain’t it? This is a sample of the living hell I was in while growin’ up under your care. Church.” He took another toke of his cigarette.
“Why are you doin’ this to me? What do you want from me? I didn’t know Luis was abusing you! You know that if I knew that for a fact, I would have gotten rid of him and called the cops. How can you be so cold?!”
“Baby, this ain’t cold, this is amnesty. Cold woulda been a much different response… believe me.” His eyes narrowed on her. “You only ova here because you don’t want the money train to stop.”
“That’s not true and you know it.”
“I know Melanie told you ’bout that land I bought, and construction plans are already underway. She’s proud of me, so she’s been runnin’ off at the mouth. I’m opening up my own restaurant, Kentucky style with a bit of fanciness, all the bells and whistles, and my ol’ lady is gonna run the business portion, while I take care of everything else. We about to be a dream team, and you know whatever I put my mind to, I get it done. I’m a leader. A boss. Nothin’ is going to stop me. Now listen, you ain’t gettin’ a dime outta me no time soon. I thank you for your services though.” He smirked as she stood there crying.