Monday, June 23, 2014

And the children are our future...... SMH

I wouldn't believe it if I hadn't heard it myself. If somebody came and told me they had the conversations I had with the parents of the boy who showed up at my house last night, I would swear they were exaggerating just to make a point. When I tell you I heard some of the most ignorant and immature shit I have ever heard out of parents' mouths today, BAY-BEH! WOO LAWD.....

SMH... Its a lotta shit to be tryna type so Im gonna try to just hit the key points in an effort to keep it brief.....er LOL.

First of all, I knew the interview the boy told me he had was a lie because when I asked him this morning what time his interview was, he said he called and they said he couldn't go because he didn't have his documents, which he thought he wouldn't need because he had taken that stuff to the initial interview. It wasn't the stuff about the documents that tipped me off; it was the fact that it was 7:30 in the damn morning and who the fuck did you call and WHEN cause my son JUST woke you up. He said he'd be spending the day trying to find some other work and then chilling with his girlfriend. Im thinking Oh... so you have a girlfriend up here? Interesting. The more I thought and the more I found about this boy's family situation (a lot of which will be omitted here simply because its too damn much to type) the more I knew he had to go - TODAY.

I get to work and cant reach his mama so I text her that I want to talk to her about her son. She texts me back like a half hour later asking who I was and it was then I noticed the oh-so-classy signature "Mz. Skorpion" on her messages. Awesome. This is going to be just awesome. She says she'll call me when she gets off at 3 so in the meantime I call the boy's daddy, but Im gonna skip ahead to my conversation with her for the sake of fluidity.... The first thing she says to me after I explained why I was calling was "Let him sleep in the street." *insert record scratch, tire screech AND Scooby Doo noise* There was a bit of a silence because I was convinced I hadn't heard her right. "Im sorry?" She said, "Yep. That is exactly what I said." Well. Okay then. She proceeds to tell me how she may sound harsh but people don't know the hell she has been through with the boy (although nothing she specifically mentioned came anywhere near Texas, let alone hell LOL) and how his whole objective was to get back up here to be with his girlfriend and everything is about the girlfriend and anything that interferes with him and the girlfriend becomes double-barreled disrespect. She proceeded to tell me how he overstayed his last welcome at another mutual friend's house because he became very disrespectful to his mother when her rules conflicted with what he wanted to do as it concerned the girl. I said well hold on cause this is not a conversation about him staying with me, letting you know and finding out particulars as it relates to your desires for him. Im calling you cause he CANT stay here and I just want your input as to where he should be headed. LETS BE CLEAR. Her response was she really didn't give a shit. If he comes back to VA, fine. If he stays in Jersey, he is on his own. She does not care where he is, what he is doing and she will not, in any way, shape or form, be sending money, items or support for somebody else to be taking care of him here when she is perfectly capable of taking care of him there and he is just choosing not to be there, so if Jersey is where the answers are, he needs to go find them. Ok awesome sauce, I see you are really not going to be of any help so thank you for your..... time LOL. Sighhh.

Now Papa Punkass.... I see right away what the problem is with him: he don't wanna take responsibility for SHIT. He is one of those smooth talkers that tries to agree with you to make you think he's about something but his subsequent actions - or lack thereof - still leave you staring into the camera. He wants to play victim, talking about its not fair to him that the boy came when he's been saying for so long he cant afford to have him here and doesn't have space. Im sorry, space? Well shorty sleeping on my COUCH. Tell me you don't got wunnadoze and then we can talk about the space you don't have. I get it, theres a lotta shit that needs working out but he needs to be on YOUR couch while yall doing that. You don't have to check in with me, let me know whats been decided or nunna that shit. THIS AINT MY CHILD. That being said, if I had gotten the call he got from me today, I'd be in communication with [me] on and off all day long, making sure we stayed looped in about MY child. Seven hours later, I had to call HIM like what up, yo? He talkin bout the aunt hasn't called him back. Okay so when you coming to get him. He wanna talk about how he gotta be to work at 7 so nobody will be there.... eh-eh, Im talkin bout TONIGHT, Jack. TONIGHT. He gon tell me he have to talk it over with his wife and see how she feels about it LOL. Nigga what? Let me back up cause I obviously wasn't clear: I DONT GIVE A FUCK HOW SHE FEELS ABOUT IT! THIS IS NOT MY CHILD. And with that, we hung up and I imagine he went to talk to his "wife" because she just called me 5 minutes ago saying they were going to pick him and his things up this evening. Yes, I thought you might.

Dad just came to get the boy's things and is on his way to collect the boy from the girlfriend's house. He says, "We found a place for him, he's going to stay with his aunt up in Brooklyn."

*blink, blink*

I just........ sighhhhhhhhh.

*drops mic*

Sunday, June 22, 2014

Say what now?

It's 10pm and I'm just starting to see the upside of "sick as shit" after being confined to my bed all weekend, with the midgets playing Benson. I am just about to roll over and holla at this sleep thing when the boy child comes into my room to show me a KIK message on his phone. A kid he used to go to school with says he is back in town and hoping he can come stay at our house, just for the night. I am familiar with the kid - a nice boy, from everything I know - but I still have questions. My son is responding to his messages with my questions but the answers aren't very satisfying, which the boy knows, so he says he is nearby and will come explain.

The boy and his mama moved to Virginia a couple of years ago. He has been back and forth visiting his dad since then but apparently somewhere along the line, dad moved a new girlfriend in who is not keen on having the boy there. Therefore, the boy made some other arrangement to stay with somebody else, but - again apparently - that person's kid came home from the military and no longer has room for the kid. Some other family he normally would try is going camping tomorrow (which to me sounds suspect since this is the last week of school and who plans a camping trip then, but whatever). My understanding is that the boy has some interview tomorrow. He is back for some length of time, if not for good, and his grandmother is going to be his guardian but she lives in some kind of women only place in the city. She's supposed to be working on a place for them to stay in together effective July 15 or 20th or some shit.

He's always seemed to be a nice kid but that's only as far as I'm aware. He's been gone a couple of years now and I have my own children to be worried about. That being said, as uneasy as it makes me to have this child stay with me under these shady ass circumstances, I am more uncomfortable turning him to the streets and having him wandering from place to place, trying to find somewhere safe to stay. I told him he can stay here so he'll at least have some peace of mind tonight, but he and I are going to have to have a chat tomorrow. I am going to need to some phone numbers to some other people I need to have a chat with too. I am having a really difficult time understanding how a mother sends her kid to a whole nother state without making sure he has someplace to stay. I aint talking about anything he may have told you he has set up. We all know kids don't know how to make proper arrangements. I'm talking about getting on the phone with these people and verifying it to be the case. And what kinda sucka ass father turns his son away because his girlfriend don't want him there? I find this all extremely unsettling. I really need to get to the bottom of this. I would feel much better if he were able to go stay with other family but I cant put this boy out in the street. He can stay here, at least for a couple of days while I investigate, and we'll see what happens after that. I swear, if it aint one thing......

Sigh.

Sunday, June 15, 2014

Celebrating Life


Ruby Dee was amazing to me. She was a cornerstone of black entertainment and activism as well as one of few women I've witnessed in my life become more and more beautiful as she aged. At 91, she left us last week, off to be with the love of her life, Ossie Davis, whom she was married to for over 50 years. 50 years! I must say that this death is not one that spawned a spirit of sadness for me. My first thought? I'm so happy she and Ossie are finally together again. So rest well, Ruby. Tell Ossie we said hello.

I'd also like to wish a very happy Father's Day to the fathers out there, particularly the one riding shotgun with me. We have our moments - oh believe me, we have our moments LOL - but when its all said and done, he's always got my back and I've always got his. Despite all we've been through, both collectively and individually, we never lose sight of our objective, which is to be the best co-parents possible for the midgets and in that regard, we work very well together. So today I shout him out in hopes that he'll know how much I appreciate him as my parental copilot. Cheers to you, Sir, and enjoy your day.

In other news, Im writing again. Where's the parade? #IJS

Wednesday, June 4, 2014

Another Legend Gone



R.I.P. to Maya Angelou. I am hella late but yo, I have been EXHAUSTED all week. Today was the first day I woke up feeling somewhat energetic and its probably because I went back on my vitamins and was in bed by 10:30. But anyway, I don't have to tell yall how significant a being Maya Angelou was. There are many people whose names you know alongside their work, but much like Nelson Mandela, there wasn't a person in the world who didn't know her name BECAUSE of her life's work. She was a true pioneer and activist and the blueprint to how one leaves a legacy. I'm not even gonna remind yall that I called it; I said it was either gonna be her or Bill Cosby next. Oh wait.... I just reminded yall, didn't I? LOL.... ah well. It is what it is.

Rest in peace to the phenomenal woman herself.