Free Mama B - a Time to Love by Michelle Stimpson

at that time of night.
    Suddenly, I heard Eunice’s phone slam
shut. She began to weep softly, yet loud enough for me to hear it on the other
side of the door. I stopped. Put my hand on the doorknob, wondering if I should
try and go in or leave her to the Lord and her feelings. Since I wasn’t sure, I
rapped on the door to ask her.
    “Eunice, you okay?”
    “Um...yes. I’m so sorry I woke you.”
    “It’s all right. I was already up gettin’
a snack,” I spoke to her through the door.
    I heard her sniff. “A snack sure sounds
good right about now.”
    Gently, I cracked the door open and
peeked in with a smile. “I’ve got some yogurt.”
    “No offense, B, but yogurt is not comfort food.” She tapped on over to meet and follow me back down the hallway
with her cane in hand. “Have you got anything sweet or crunchy?”
    We stopped at the pantry. I took a look
inside, with Eunice directly behind me.
    “You’ve got popcorn,” she spied, pointing
to the top shelf. “That’ll do.”
    I stretched to retrieve the box. Had to
check the expiration date to see if it was still good. “This must be your day.
It’s still okay, but it’s the healthy kind. No salt and no fat.”
    “We could pour butter and salt on it,”
she suggested.
    She just determined to eat all wild, I
see. I figured I might as well share my secret stash with her.  “I’ve got
some butter and cheese sprinkles I put on my great-grandson’s popcorn when he’s
here.”
    As the popcorn popped in the microwave, I
watched Eunice fidget at the table. Seem like she was itching to get something
off her chest. Lord knows after Cynthia’s big bombshell, I wasn’t in the mood
for no more confessions.
    The timer went off. I fixed her bowl
Cameron-style, smothering the white puffs until it looked more yellow than
white. Have to admit, it smelled so good, I took a napkin and trickled some
onto a napkin for myself. Not too many.
    Eunice crunched and closed her eyes in
bliss. “Mmmmm. This is so good. Thank you.”
    “You’re welcome.”
    “I used to make popcorn for my kids. You
remember those popcorn poppers where you had to pour the kernels into a well
and the popcorn came shooting out of the yellow top?” She smiled.
    “Yeah, we had one of those. Did you ever
do the kind where you put the tin pan over the stove’s eye?”
    Eunice threw her head back in laughter.
“Oh my goodness! I almost burned up our house with that one!”
    I was glad to hear her talk about some
good times with her family. Warms a mother’s heart. “How many kids?”
    “Three. One died in an accident. Got two
left. The judge and the teacher. Not too bad, huh?”
    “Not bad at all,” I complimented her.
“Sounds like they’ve done good for themselves.”
    “What about your kids?” she wanted to
know.
    Chile, we got to talkin’ ‘bout our kids,
their degrees, and their jobs. Then we went down memory lane, talkin’ ‘bout all
the times they broke stuff in the house, the crazy pets they had, and their
silly jokes.
    Turns out, Eunice’s deceased son died in
a car wreck when he was a teenager. Drunk driving accident. By the Spirit, I
knew this had something to do with why she’d been upset for the last fifteen
years. Since I ain’t never lost a child, I don’t know that pain. I don’t know
what kind of mess it would have made me if I’d gone through such a loss. And
lost two husbands, too? Lord, have mercy.
    We stayed up bumpin’ our gums until
almost two o’clock in the morning, and y’all know I don’t be out the bed
after 9:00 p.m. unless the Lord say otherwise. But that Eunice was a lot of fun
to talk to. She made me remember what it was like to come home and unwind with
somebody.
    Albert could talk your ear off!
Sometimes, he’d be talking so until I fell asleep on him. That didn’t hardly
stop him, though. He’d shake me and say, “B, you up?”
    I’d yawn, “I am now.” Ha!
    Eunice finally said, “Ooh, I’m ‘bout to
hit the sack.”
    “Me