The statement, “when it rains it pours,” would be an understatement now. My mom put me out! I had no plans of moving out right now, because I had recently graduated from college and was 21 years old trying to find out what I was going to do with my life. I had no money saved up, because I was paying off some of my credit cards.
I was thinking about going to graduate school and my mom said that I could live there as long as I was working and in school. I took a year off to gather my thoughts, because I graduated two months before my 21st birthday. There was so much stress that led up to me graduating that I felt I needed that time off to recoup.
The lesson learned in this situation was definitely, “Destiny is a not a matter of chance, but a matter of choice.” Everything that snowballed after this day proved that one has to be wise in her decision making. My mom made a bold statement, but I had already been forewarned. I didn’t even bother calling her, because I knew she wasn’t going to pick up the phone, so I called my sister to find out what was going on.
“Yolanda, this Lisa.”
“Lisa! Where have you been? You had us all worried about you. Mama was about to call the police if you didn’t answer my text. As soon as she found out that you were okay, she went off and started packing up all your stuff. I mean everything. She took all your books to the goodwill. She packed up your knickknacks. Some stuff she just threw in the trash. She did most of this last night and the rest she took to the Goodwill and the Salvation Army this morning. Where were you?”
“I was in Toledo!”
“To-ledo!!!”
“What were you doing in Toledo?”
“Well…um…”
I hesitated because remember Keon was still waiting on me and now he was listening to my full conversation.
“Hello, Lisa, are you there?”
“Yes, I’m here.”
“Well, spit it out, why were you in Toledo.”
“Jason and I went to get married.”
Keon looked in disbelief.
“Married! What! Are you kidding me? Lisa, you got married?”
“No, I didn’t go through with it.”
“Oh my God, are you serious?”
“Yeah, unfortunately, I am serious.”
“Where’s Jason?”
“He’s still in Toledo.”
“Well, how did you get home?”
“My friend Keon came to get me.”
“Are you okay?”
“No….”
“I’m sorry, that was a kind of dumb question to ask.”
“Yeah, well, tell me exactly what mom said.”
“Oh, minus the cuss words, she basically said since you thought that you were grown enough to spend the night out while living in her house then you were grown enough to find your own place to live. She said that she was going to leave you a note inside of the black suitcase. Check in the zip-up part in the front, it should be in there.”
I looked in the zip-up part in the front and low and behold there was a letter in there. I told my sister that I would call her later. I looked up at Keon and turned to walk to the front of the house to sit on the porch and read the letter my mom wrote to me.
It read:
To My Daughter, Lisa:
I never thought that I would have to write a letter like this to my own daughter. I am very hurt, but most of all disappointed in you. In the last serious conversation we had, you assured me you would not do anything to betray my trust and that you would be sure to set a good example for your sister if I allowed you to stay in my house rent-free. But did you hold up to your end of the bargain? No. You also said that you were going to enroll in school, but have you done that yet? No. Instead, I find that you have disrespected me and have lied to me. I was worried sick about you last night and you ignored all of my calls. I don’t even want to know what you were doing, because I’m not even sure that I can stomach it. I have packed up all of your things and have sent some of them out to Goodwill and the Salvation Army. I wish you well as I feel that your statement to me last night was that you don’t need me anymore. I have done the best that I can do by you and I pray your success. Don’t come crying to me if you find yourself pregnant or something. I never wanted that type of life for you. Don’t you remember the struggle that you and I had to go through before your step-father came along? Your mother loves you, but now it’s time for you to experience some tough love.
-Mama
Have you ever hurt so bad that you couldn’t cry? Well, I couldn’t cry. I was in shock and just went into mechanic mode. Keon looked at me confused so I gave him the letter to read while I pulled my car into the driveway from my neighbor’s house. As he read, I packed my car. After I packed, I grabbed the letter from Keon and said thank you and was about to be on my way to nowhere.
Well, I guess for now it would be my job because I hadn’t even called to tell them I wasn’t coming in. I was about six hours late because I was supposed to be there at 10:30 a.m. and now it was 4:30 p.m. There was no point in trying to call in; I was just going to go in, talk to them, and see if I could work until close (7:30 p.m.), because I couldn’t afford to lose my job since I was now homeless.
Keon told me he would hang around in the city because he wanted to make sure I was okay, but I told him he didn’t have to. He said okay, but then hit me with, “Well, I know that you are Ms. Independent and all, but just in case you don’t have anywhere to go tonight, you can stay with me if you need to or I can put you up in one of ‘dem Extended Stay Americas because my boy can get me this discount. The only thing is, it’s out in Novi. You let me know. Call or text me or something…better yet, I’ll call you after I call my boy, okay…Don’t worry. Everything’s going to be alright.”
He hugged me and I got into my loaded down car and pressed my way to work. Got to work, got the stares, and went to my mailbox, just to find a pink violation slip in there…OMG!!!! Do I still have a job?
Displaced – moved or put out of the usual or proper place
