The Answer is Within, Janice K. Whitney [best black authors txt] 📗

But the last 10 years had been more bad times then good. Randy did not want to work at the relationship. It took too much work for him to do that. So he had moved on to another poor woman who put on the same blinders as she herself had in the past.
Her girlfriend of almost 50 years, Stella, told her that if the woman were smart she would figure out what he was and kick him out in 2 to 6 months. If she didn’t’ then she deserved all the unhappiness that Randy will cause her.
On the night before Randy was to move out he came home drunk and crawled in bed with her. Asking her if he was making a mistake. She did not say anything. Then he started to play around with her breasts telling her how much he was going to miss them, wondering if he could see if he could make the stand up as in the past. She jerked away from him telling him coldly “Don’t even go there.” Her anger with him that he would be thinking that she would want anything to do with him when he was leaving. Her mind and body convulsed with disgust at him. Told him to get out of her bed and go to the couch where he had been sleeping for the past 4 years. His excuse was she moved around too much so he could not sleep.
The next day, he started packing up things into his truck and utility trailer. She made no effort to help. It was not her job anymore to help him with anything. He couldn’t get everything packed so he told her that he would be back the next weekend to get the heavier item, his lathe, which would take three to four guys to move. She asked him about the shelter frame and tarps that had covered his one car. “Oh, I will leave it here so you can keep you van out of the weather”, he said. She told him that she would rather that he took it down and hauled away, unless he was giving it to her. He said no that he would need it later, but now he had no room. So she let it drop.
The next Tuesday, her mother passed away from a severe stroke. With all of the other stuff going on, she asked the Lord to please help her deal with everything. She had gone with her son, to say goodbye to her mother on two days after the stroke. In her mothers’ living will, she had specified that she did not want to resuscitate or anything. Just let her pass on to be with the Lord and her husband, who had been gone for 23 years. The whole day, she sat at her mother’s side, holding her hand telling her that it was ok to let go and be with Dad. Her son sat on the other side of the bed with his head bowed. At one point, she had started to fall asleep in the chair still holding her mother’s hand. The Parkinson’s tremors were bad that day because of the stress. As she started to doze off, her mother gently stroking with her fingers the top of her hand wakened her. She quickly looked up into her mothers one good eye for the other had been greatly affected by the stroke. As she gazed, she realized that her mother actually was looking at her with clarity of mind. This had not been there for several years now after a major stroke and dementia. She quickly kissed her mothers hand then leaned over and kissed her on the cheek saying once again that it was quite ok for her to go be with Dad and the Lord. That her and Dad had raised their children, to be strong of character and principles. That they, their children and grandchildren, would be just fine. Then later she told her sister that her and her son would be needing to get back home for he had to go to work. Her son gently leaned over his Grandmother stroking her hair back and kissed her on the cheek. He told her softly goodbye and to say hi to Grandpa who had died when he was two years old.
Four days before her birthday she got the call that she was dreading at 12:30 am. It was her sister telling her through her tears that their mother had died at 11:30 p.m. She called her daughter and then woke her son up to inform him. Her next call was to her girlfriend who had told her to let her know at whatever hour it was. Then she cried the rest of what was left of the night.
Her sister arranged for their mothers’ funeral to be the day after her birthday. She said that they at the funeral home wanted it to be that Saturday but that she told them that their mother was not to buried on her sister’s birthday.
The next weekend on her birthday she invited Stella to come early and she would cook breakfast. Her daughter had taken the holiday week off to come over and visit all of the family. That was Saturday. Randy was to come and get the rest of his stuff. Her girlfriend wanted to be there as a protector of her. As it was it was good. For Randy even though he had been cheating on her was still jealous of any strange men that were at the house. When she had asked him what time that, he was going to be there he had wanted to know “WHY?” She thought oh great, he still thinks that I should be here for him. When he had showed up to pack the rest if his things, he saw her talking with the neighbor who her son worked with on occasion. Jim could not find the drawn up plans for the patio that they were building at a job site. Her son had stayed at his fathers the night before and she was not sure either. So, she gave her son a call to find out where he had put them. Jim was talking to her son on the phone when Randy drove up to the house. He saw this strange guy there and spun gravel indicating to her that he was reacting to her standing there with her neighbor. He did not know it was the neighbor behind her house. Jim went to move his truck out of the way for Randy to back up to his utility trailer that was full of garbage to be hauled to the dump. When Randy got out of his truck, he yelled in an angry voice, “WHO'S THAT?” Good God, he is jealous! She thought. He cannot let go of me, but it is ok for him to have a girlfriend. She told him it was the neighbor behind the house. That her son was working with him on a job. At which he calmed down.
On her birthday, Randy and his friends loaded up the lathe and his small tool box that is not small since it took two of them. When he thought he was done, he told her that he would be back next weekend, which was Christmas. Her girlfriend spoke up and said, “No, you get everything NOW.” Her voice firm and full of hostility. Surprisingly he just set his lips in a hard straight line and kept his mouth shut. He did manage to get the rest of the stuff, with the exception of the temporary shelter tent. She asked him to please take it down and away from her house. He said again, “I don’t have room for it.” All she could think of was that he wanted an excuse to keep coming back. Then he left with his stuff. She stared at the shelter tent for the rest of the week.
On Christmas day she told her son that they were taking it down for she needed to move the van out for a camping trip with her friends for New Years weekend. Her son gladly jumped at it. So they took it down and were not too neat about it. She dragged the tarps over to the side of the garage where the wind would not blow them around. Then they tossed the frame work pieces pell-mell on top of the tarps. The smaller things they put in the bag that also had the instructions so that they would not get lost. Everything was there and undamaged. Just not in neat order of things.
A couple of days later, she called him and told him that as per the advice of her doctors, friends and family that he had till Wednesday night to get it out of there. That if she did not she had a buyer for it on Thursday morning. He got upset. She said oh well.
While her girlfriend and her were on their daily 2 mile walk he came by and got it. Throwing mud onto her little car. When she got into the house, he left a threatening message on the answering machine. He accused her of harassment. She guessed that giving a deadline on the shelter to be gone was also harassment in his way of thinking. She then recorded onto her cell phone voice mailbox so that she would not lose it. She called him back, and not letting him get a word in edge wise, she informed him of what she thought of him and a few other things.
“As far as the shelter thing, well all of my doctors, family and friends said that I needed to have you get it out of here ASAP. So you would not have any excuse to come near me or my home.” Then she hung up. Feeling released from some of the stress of her life, she started to sing to herself.
A few days later which was New Years Eve day, her friend Bob came by to pick up a coat that was too large for her now to give to one of his friends who did not have much money. When he came in the door he asked her if, she saw dipstick drive by. Surprised she said no that she had been in and out of the house packing the camp van up for the camping trip. But that she had thought she had heard his truck, but had dismissed it. So now, Randy was driving by her house checking up on her. Well, is not that just dandy she thought?
A week or so went by, when her girlfriend and herself were heading down to the trail that they take their 2-mile walk on. They were in her girlfriend’s car when her girlfriend saw Randy in his truck coming in the other direction. So her girlfriend smiled widely at Randy and waved at him. Stella has a saying of “kill them with kindness.” For those that she dislikes intensely. Trish sat there laughing at his expression on his face telling her girlfriend that