serials
want to see me. momma anymore.”
I thought you didn’t want me to be your
“I know, Mom. I figured that much out. He had me thinking you didn’t want me for a son anymore. I thought – for years I thought you were disappointed in me.” “How could I be, son? From what I hear you’ve grown into a remarkable young man. I’m just sorry I missed so much of it. And then having you here like this, all of a sudden, it’s like I just met you or something. But I’m impressed by the boy I’m meeting. I’m sorry I let things get this way. Do you think we could forgive each other?” I tell her there’s nothing to forgive. We’ve been tricked. He played on our fears and insecurities. I say, “He has to go. You hear me? If you want me home, if you want me to be your boy again, you get rid of that man. It’s him or me, Mom. If you want us to be a family again then it has to just be you and me the way it was when I was little. We have to start over.” “Okay, Joey Baby. Why would I pick him over you, anyway? The man that’s kept us apart all this time? The man that’s lied and tricked to keep you in that terrible place to keep you away from me? Why – how could I?” “I mean it, Mom. He has to go. Can I trust you to do that? I don’t care about anything else that’s happened. I don’t blame you for anything, you understand? But if you don’t get him gone I’ll blame you. You say you still want to be my mom, you say you still love me. Well, prove it. Choose me.” “I will, Joe. I choose you. He’ll go. Joey Baby, I could never…I have never stopped loving you. Nothing can ever change that. It’s part of what being a momma is.” She hugs me and we sit together on the couch. She turns on the television and finds repeats of The Twilight Zone. For just a minute everything feels okay. It feels like I’m a little boy again and none of those terrible things ever even happened. Momma asks me to help her out with some boxes and we put them on the porch. When John gets home from work the door 96