Day 21 - What I Didn't Want to Know

"Be careful what you ask for ... you just might get it!"

There was a silence so quiet you could have heard a pin drop.

Mom stood there staring at me for the longest time.

Then quietly, but with cold fury, she said, “There’s only one place you could have seen that name. You must have got ahold of your grandma’s bible even though I thought I got rid of it.”

With every word, mom’s voice got louder. “Now young lady, you sit your butt down in that chair and you are going to hear every bit of this sordid story, and by the time I’m done, you are going to wish you’d kept your trap shut.”

Jamie interrupted. “Sharon, listen to me, you’re too mad. This is not the way you want to tell her.”

Ignoring her, Mom went on, “All this happened because of you! If you’d never been born, Joe would still be alive!”

Jamie jumped up and putting her hands on her hips, shouted, “Now that’s enough!”

We both turned to her in surprise. Jamie never yelled.

Mom said, “Well, you tell her, then,” and jumped up and ran out of the room, slamming the door. Soon, we heard the car start up, back out of the driveway, and away she raced.

Jamie went over to the couch and sat down. She patted the cushion beside her and said, “Honey, come here and sit down. The truth is hard to hear but it’s all going to be okay.”

I sat next to her and she reached over and held my hands. “Now when your mama was young, she was very good looking, bright and funny.”

At my look of surprise, she went on, “Yes, it’s true! We went to high school together and were best friends. Sharon just wanted to have fun because life at home was so tense. Her old man was as mean as a snake. He mostly took his anger out on Sharon because he just couldn’t be mean to Rose. I mean, no one could! Believe me, he tried! He was bitter that she fell in love with Jesus. Rose was so kind and loving to him that he would soften up in her presence. But when Rose was at work or at church, Bobby seemed to take particular pleasure in tormenting Sharon. He’d take the belt to her for the least little infraction of any rule he might make up that day.”

I interjected, “I can’t believe Grandma Rose would put up with that!”

“Honey, she didn’t know! Both Bobby and Sharon kept that side of him a secret.”

“Anyway, one year, I got the idea that we should be cheerleaders, so we both tried out and made the team.”

“Neither Bobby nor Rose liked the idea – Bobby because he knew cheerleaders were the natural target of the football team – and Rose hated what she called the “immodest uniforms” of the cheerleaders.”

“We were just excited to get into the games free on Friday nights and have fun with our friends! It was so fun when we’d call out a cheer and the crowd responded!” Jamie quit talking and seemed lost in happy memories. After a bit she glanced at me, sighed and went on:

“Well, it wasn’t long before your grandpa’s fears were realized and Sharon caught the eye of the captain of the football team, Joe Lee. There was a lot of flirting going on, and truthfully, they both fell for each other.”

“Joe Lee was handsome and spoiled. He was the apple of his mama’s eye, and his daddy was rich. He got his way on everything.”

“So, it’s not surprising that eventually he had his way with your mother, and you were on the way.”

“Sharon was so scared. She knew how Bobby would react and she also thought Rose would be embarrassed in front of all her church friends and maybe she’d disown her as well.”

I started to protest, but Jamie tightened her grip on my hands, “I know, Morgan, I know. I’m just telling you Sharon’s thought process.”

“Sharon finally mustered up the courage to tell Joe Lee. We both though he’d dump her, but surprisingly he said he would marry her and make things right.”

“They planned to elope to Mississippi where you could get a marriage license and get married all in the same day. We’d heard it was pretty easy to lie about your age.”

“Instead Bobby found out. At the time, we didn’t really know how he found out your mama was pregnant. We found out later that Joe Lee’s mom knew and tried to talk Bobby into coercing your mom to have an abortion.”

“Anyway, while Rose was at prayer meeting, Bobby came home and beat your mother within an inch of her life.”

“And then,” Jamie jumped off the couch and paced back and forth while I just stared at her, “and then … he went out to the football field and opened fire on the players.”

“The coach, Joe Lee and a boy named Darren were all killed. Some others got injured and could never play football again. And the name Fordham became mud in this town.”

“That’s why your mama never let you be around people. She was so afraid they’d spill the beans to you. She never wanted you to know about Bobby and why you don’t have a daddy. She didn’t want you to hear the terrible gossip.”

Bitterly, I laughed. “No, she just wanted to make my life a living hell herself!”

I grabbed Jamie’s arm, “Jamie, let me come home with you! I can’t stomach the hatefulness here anymore! I’ll do anything, I’ll cook and clean for you, anything, anything at all.”

“I can’t stay here with someone who hates me!”

We are on Day 21 of my serial, Angel on Assignment: The Book of Morgan. Things will never be the same once the truth was out.

If you have missed any of the previous posts, click on the title, "Angel on Assignment" in the upper right hand corner in my side bar. It will take you to a page where you can find all links as they go live.

This serial is not intended to be doctrine. Scripture does tell us angels come to warn, bring messages and sometimes watch over us. It also tells us we could possibly unknowingly entertain an angel. My serial is just me imagining how that might look in our present day and time.

Tomorrow's offering: Rejection

This post was written as part of the Write 31 Days challenge. A whole group of writers will be writing for 31 days straight on a variety of topics. Click here to check it out.

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