In the beginning, things were great in our new home. We didn’t have a lot of money, but Lynell made it work. Each day, at 4:00 a.m. sharp, Lynell got up to head to work. Mother would make his coffee and pack his lunch, and he wouldn’t return until early evening. Day in, and day out, five days per week, Lynell worked tirelessly for the woman he loved and her seven children. There were times when work took him to New Mexico and Nevada for weeks at a time. He didn’t complain, he loved providing for his family.
At different times, mother cleaned houses, worked at gas stations, and even dry cleaners. Although not much, her contribution came in handy when construction work was slow. Even then, when we were really low on money, Lynell would put his pride aside and visit all of the baseball and football fields, rummage through the trash to collect cans to cash in for money. He wasn’t ashamed in the least bit. To him, it would have been shameful not to be able to feed his family.
When she wasn’t working, and Lynell had to travel, mother partied. She would often leave us at home with my eldest sister, who was a child herself, while mother and her friends went to do drugs, drink, and visited Joe. Yep, after all he had done, mother hadn’t quite gotten him out of her system.
On one occasion Lynell returned home early from work. Of course, mother had been out getting high. When she returned, we all heard her car enter the garage. Lynell was upset and dashed out to see her; we followed. He yelled, “how can you be out getting high when I’m here watching and feeding your children.” Mother, in all of her coldness, said, “oh, you mad? You want your damn food back, huh? You want your damn food back? Y’all put your fingers in your mouth and throw up the food Lynell gave y’all since it bothers him so damn much!” We just stared at her with fear. She then shouted, “throw up your food!!” As we began to put our fingers in our mouths, Lynell stopped us and told us to go into the house. He looked at her and said, “you should be ashamed of yourself.” She laughed and said, “what are you going to do, leave?” He went into the house. His love for her was often painful.
S
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