The Story I needed to hear

A Story by Jef

A story that my mom told me that I did not expect. Since her personality did not reflect the experience she went through.

The story I needed to hear

The story unfolds as I was doing the dishes. I don’t remember doing the dishes before that day. If I recall correctly, I was around nine years old. It is interesting that we stay with the memories that impact us the most. I don’t remember much of my childhood while in my home. I remember a fire, because I left some eggs frying while opening gifts on Christmas. I also remember the worst of the hurricanes, seeing the rivers devour streets, houses, recreation centers, and animal. All of these left an impression in my memory, but nothing prepared me for what I heard and saw that day.

My mother is 4’11”, she is quite short, but you did not want to get her upset. We’ve experienced her upset before: one day my brother and I went to the river without her permission, as soon as we got home, we felt her wrath. On the other hand, most of the times her gaze was warm. Her voice is soft, and her hugs are like heaven on earth. Her humor is always present.

I remember my mom did some passing by through the kitchen. I felt she was keeping an eye on what I was doing. I did not make anything of it, I just kept washing the dishes. In one of the passing by, she stopped and looked at me. I was probably half way through the dishes, when she inspects one of the plates. Without skipping a beat, she yelled, “What is this? This not even clean!” She followed by “You are worthless, can’t even wash dishes! I was scared and lost but also felt sad. There were tears coming down my mom cheeks, and I did not know why. Her eyes were wide open, and her body was tense. She yelled with anger and sadness. She looked as she was in another time. It was a look that I will never forget. She witnessed or went through something that shook her life. Tears start to run down my cheeks and I am wondering what happened. My mom hugs me and tells me that when she was my age her stepmother used yelled at them for no reason. When she saw washing dishes, she remembers what would happen to the her if the dishes weren’t done right.

She sat me down and told me her story. I should know everything about my mom at this point in my life, but this was not the case. She tells me that at a young age her mom and dad split. The dad ends up taking the kids, and mom allowed it to happen. Though this in of itself could create some issues later, this was not the issue at all. The dad started going out with a younger lady that had a daughter. Since the dad spent majority of the time working the stepmom took the main responsibility of taking care of the kids.

The real story starts to unravel when my mom and aunt start being mistreated and abused by their stepmom. They were beat daily, for the house not being cleaned to stepmom’s standard. The floors were dirty, the dishes weren’t done properly, the food was not right and more. Some of the punishments involved: kneeling on rice while holding objects up on both of their hands for a long time and redoing the tasks that were asked of them multiple times. All while her biological daughter was not require to do any of these tasks. The stepmom threatens them, into staying silent and not telling their dad. If they ever said anything to him, she will tell him that they are lying. The stepmom managed to keep this going for years. The dad never figured out what was going on and found out later when both my aunt and mom left the house.

She must be a strong individual to endure such hurt and look at my eyes the way she does. The way I looked at my mom after that changed. Everything came into perspective after that story. This story replays in my head every time I feel, that I have it bad.

Thanks Mom! For ending what could have been a vicious cycle. Thank you for unconditional love!

Jef