I’ve Heard This All Before

The

Oh my Lord!!

of Southern ladies in shock.

The

You're so young!!

Of women fishing for weakness.

PTA bullshit.

New town. New faces. New school

for my son. Not for me

Who should be in college classes

(or with a degree, already)

But I will be soon.

Chemistry, because I actually

do have

A brain, and a damn good one,

at that.

They always see my ring first.

Oh, well someone likes you, young lady.

And he does. A lot.

Big ring. Gold, diamonds, curvy, sparkly.

Oh, but you're too young to be married!!

Eye of the beholder.

Twenty four is too young to be 

married

Never mind that it's my second marriage. 

Children file around us. They assume.

I'm here for a brother, a sister, a niece, a nephew.

Hope

I'm here for a brother, a sister, a niece, a nephew.

I'm not.

Twenty four, some people are 

Starting to have children.

Thinking about having children.

Hoping not to have children.

My angel runs to me, 

Light hair

Mine

Dark eyes

His.

Mama! he cries, and he throws his arms around me,

While other second graders shuffle

Around us, hunting their mothers, too.

Realization clicks.

Hens start clucking again.

Bless your heart.

Southern for 'Fuck off.'

(In case you've never heard it

in conversation before)

They're all at least ten years my senior.

What was it like, having him so young?

'Uh. Kind of like having a kid, y'know.

But younger.'

They have no clue who I am.

Teenage mother sticks with me forever.

But wasn't it hard..?

'Isn't it always, uh.. Kind of hard?

Having kids?'

No sympathy from me. 

I want none from them, either.

Never mind how polite my boy is

How smart

How behaved

How curious

How incredible

...

Never mind how hard I work

And volunteer

And tutor

And love

And try

...

Seems to me like it'd just be harder!!

A woman says with a throaty laugh.

Passive aggressively raised and

trained, I don't bite my tongue.

I can play their games, too.

'Awe... Bless your heart. Probably,

For some people.

But I think I did just fine.'