True Confessions by Electa Rome Parks Read Free Book Online Page B

sleepy.”
    “No, you aren’t. You just think you’re tired. Get up and get dressed, Kennedy,” she exclaimed, tossing my covers to the floor. “Get up. Now.”
    I turned over so that I could look at her out of the corner of my eye. She was serious. Mother wasn’t playing around this morning.
    “Okay. Give me five minutes, Mother,” I said, burying my head under the pillow.
    “Five minutes is all you get, not a second longer. I’ll see you at the breakfast table,” she said, turning and walking out the door without another word or backward glance.
     
     
    True to my word, a few minutes later I was seated at the breakfast table in my powder blue robe and gown. My hair was all over the place, and I didn’t even bother to brush my teeth or wash my face. I still had crust on my face next to my mouth. I felt the way I looked. I didn’t feel like doing anything, not even practicing good hygiene. If I had done what I usually do, and gotten cleaned up first, I would have been trying, once again, to please someone else.
    Breakfast, which again consisted of scrambled eggs, bacon, and grits, smelled wonderful, but I didn’t have an appetite. All I desired was sleep because I knew inner peace wasn’t attainable. With sleep, I could forget for precious minutes.
    After pouring freshly squeezed orange juice into our glasses, Mother fixed our plates and sat down in front of me. Then, out of the blue she started questioning me like a prosecuting attorney.
    “Sweetie, what’s going on?”
    “What do you mean?” I asked, not bothering to look up, and playing the role of clueless brilliantly.
    “Sweetie, you know what and who I’m talking about.”
    “Nothing. Nothing’s going on,” I said, glancing down again at my untouched plate. I couldn’t meet Mother’s eyes. I didn’t want her to see the pain inside that crippled me on a daily basis.
    “No, quite a lot is going on and I’m not about to close my eyes and pretend any longer that it isn’t. Sooner or later, we need to discuss that, er, night.”
    “I don’t want to talk about it,” I whispered, feeling panic set in. I wanted to flee to my bedroom and to the protection of my covers. Talking about that night brought back unpleasant and dark memories that reminded me of another dark night.
    “And you don’t have to until you are ready. Sweetie, I care about you so much. Can’t you see that? I don’t want to see you in pain anymore because I can’t stand to see you suffering. When you hurt, I hurt. I feel your pain.”
    “I’m not hurting.” That statement wasn’t a lie. All my hurt and pain had been pushed back into a safe spot. Right now, I felt nothing. I was numb. I was empty. Simply existing. That’s all I could muster the strength to do.
    “I love you and know you like the back of my hand and I know when you are suffering. I have been there for every cut, scrape, and broken bone.”
    “Mother, please, I don’t want to talk about this.”
    “I’m sorry, but we need to discuss this.”
    We stared at each other. I looked down first.
    “I wanna know, what hold does Drake have on you? I thought you had broken it off with him.”
    “I did. We did.”
    “Why were you even talking with him the other night and crying your heart out?”
    “Mother, just because we broke up doesn’t mean I can’t talk with the man ever again.”
    “Well, you shouldn’t when he has you in hysterics. What did he say to you?”
    “Nothing,” I said, pushing eggs around on my plate and taking a bite of my crispy bacon.
    “Kennedy? I’m not stupid.”
    “Nothing, Mother. Drake didn’t say anything.”
    “Huh. It didn’t sound like that to me. I never did like that arrogant, self-centered piece of a man. There’s just something about him that I can’t quite put my finger on, but I do know I can’t stand his ass. I’m very perceptive and he’s evil. Plain evil I tell you.”
    As I swallowed my grits and played some more with my eggs, I shrugged my shoulders