Nana Pt.1

A Story by Kimberlee

A little girl takes in life one inch at a time.

I’m running down the street, bare feet, on the hot pavement. Freshly constructed roads ooze with tar that I squish between my toes. Its dog hot out but there’s no in-and-out of the house for juice or water. Straight from the hose, crisp water frosts our lips.

The sun is beating down but that doesn’t stop us from playing. We’re just a couple of ten year olds acting wild-silly, shirts soaked from the sprinkler and shorts pinned tight against sweaty skin. A few kids speed past with their spray painted bikes. One kid is my 8 year old cousin Billy. His dad lives upstairs with him and their sister Courtney. Courtney’s still in diapers, but it don’t matter none. Nana loves babies.

This here is Nana’s papa’s house. He built this back long time ago when he was in charge. Now Nana is the boss. Nana is 58 but she looks 65, wrinkles dug in by stress of raising 9 kids plus grandkids. Lines from smoking and leathery tanned skin. Nana may be old, but she’s got an attitude.

She yells at us to come back inside for lunch. Today is American cheese, wonder bread, and miracle whip. MMM good. Dessert is a freeze-pop. I always get the blue, and Nana lets me because I’m her favorite. Nana grabs Billy by the arm and stares dead into his eyes saying “What I tell you bout leavin bike marks in my yard!” He just looks at her with a “Sorry mam” as she spanks his butt inside.

Nana cuts off the crusts the way I like it. She gives me a blue Huggie because I like it. She tells me “Carrie, you dust real good. Carrie you clean real good. You good with babies. Carrie you cook real good.” Nana tells me I’m her favorite because I don’t give her no problems. I do what she say. I wake up early for chores even if that means missing some school.

Nana say school’s not important. She says you don’t need to be smart if your pretty, and she says I’m really pretty. “You got those baby blue eyes, and long blonde hair to your rear. Every guy going to love to be with you. Don’t matter if you smart. Only thing a man wants is a woman, a baby, and good meal to come home to.”

Nana always cooked for Papa West. Papa West married Nana when she was just 17 cause she was pregnant with aunt Sophie. Then she got pregnant again with uncle Charlie at 20, and then uncle Pete at 22. She didn’t have my mom until she was 32. She said it wasn’t supposed to be like that, said she was afraid the baby would come out blind or retarded. She said she didn’t know she was pregnant for 4 months, so she didn’t stop drinking. When mom came out though, Nana said she was the most beautiful baby she ever seen. She said that where I come from �" my momma.

My mom had me at 16 with a man named James who ran away afterwards. She said James went to buy me a present and that the present was so good, it was going to take him maybe twenty years for him to get it for me. So when I’m 20 I’m going to be waiting for my daddy at the doorstep of my Nana’s, just waiting for my daddy to come home.