Free Single Mom by Omar Tyree Page A

argue with it myself. I was used to seeing much more physical and tough-minded boys, but that’s not the kind of thing a mother could tell her son. I just hoped that he would pass through his many developmental stages and turn out all right. One thing was for sure, Walter would not last one minute in Chicago. I was almost certain of that. I sheltered him as much as I could and he didn’t have the street smarts that most city kids have. Jimmy, on the other hand, knew how to conduct himself in the streets, and since the skill of playing basketball was so well respected in Chicago, so was he.
    We sat in our usual seats on the left side of church, next to Camellia, Monica, and Levonne. I wondered if Jimmy ever thought of Monica asa girlfriend. She was only a year older than him, and most young guys considered her attractive. She was already wearing the fancy hats and matching gloves to church, and getting the extra attention that it afforded her. However, I realized that Monica and Jimmy were too close to being cousins to seriously think about dating each other.
    Anyway, Jimmy sat down right next to Monica, and they immediately started acting giddy and secretive. I didn’t hear a word Reverend Gray said that morning. He was usually pretty loud, but I was busy eavesdropping on Monica and my son.
    I was planning to ask Camellia all the details about the chat she had with her daughter. Usually, I stayed out of their business, but after I saw how Jimmy and Monica were carrying on, I was dying to know what they
thought
they knew. Fortunately, we attended the early, shorter service. Otherwise, we could have been in church for three hours or more.
    “You know, you two were really carrying on today,” I told them after church.
    “Mmm hmm, and the church ain’t the place for gossiping,” Camellia grunted with a frown.
    I gave her a look. She knew better than that. It was more gossiping going on in church than at your average high school. The bigger the church, the more the gossip. But that would never stop us from going.
    When we walked out, Walter’s father was double parked out in front, and on time as usual.
    “What do you think about his wife?” Camellia whispered to me.
    I gave the tall, thin sister a nod while she sat in the passenger’s side of Walter’s silver Lincoln. The car was too big for the man if you asked me, but it was perfect for a Napoleon complex. “I have nothing against her,” I answered Camellia. I couldn’t lie to myself and say that I wasn’t at all jealous of her, because I was. Nevertheless, my jealousy had more to do with the fact that she was married than anything regarding
Junior
. She would have her hands full with him. I didn’t envy that liaison at all.
    Then my son started with his usual pouting. “I hate going over his house,” he mumbled with his overnight bag in hand. “It’s always
boring
over there.”
    “Yeah, well, that’s just what you need, some quiet time to calm your behind down and think,” I told him. “Now give me back my car keys.”
    “How was church?” his father asked me as he walked over. He and his wife were dressed for church, too. I never bothered to ask, but they probably went to some white Catholic church on the North Side that let out after only an hour of service.
    “It was fine,” I told him. I’m not saying that it was right, but I rarely had many words for the man. I just didn’t know what to say to him half the time.
    He spoke to Camellia, her two kids, and then to Jimmy.
    “How’s basketball coming, Jimmy? I know you can dunk by now, right?”
    Jimmy nodded to him and smiled. “Yeah, I can dunk.”
    Too bad you can’t
, I was too mature to comment to Walter. I
did
think it though, and that was bad enough. At only five foot nine, he was easily the shortest brother I ever dated. Everything about him was unusual for me. I had always been attracted to tall, rugged men. Walter Perry Jr. was short, well-groomed, and extremely pretentious. I hated