CHAPTER 5

 

It was after midnight. Clarye’s mother was at work. The house was quiet. Everyone was asleep; everyone except, Clarye that is. She had to keep going to the bathroom to pee every few minutes. It got so bad that she could no longer make it to the bathroom. Clarye felt pee running slowly down her leg. She couldn’t control it. She was terrified. She didn’t know what was going on. Just when she was about to go in and wake up her father, she heard the turn of the key in the door and knew it was her mother coming home from a night of scrubbing floors. She yelled out to her.

“Momma, come here. I can’t stop peeing on myself,“ she screamed.

“Girl, you’re not peeing on yourself,” her mother said. “Your water has broken.“ She woke Clarye’s father and they rushed her to the hospital. The labor was unknown by Clarye. She only knew that she awoke to find herself in great pain. Bandages were all over her stomach. She could not focus on why she was in the hospital. She only knew that her stomach was flat, and then quickly realized that something had happened. She had had the baby. Later it was explained to her that she had given birth by cesarean. She drowsily looked up and saw her sisters, her mom and her dad.

“Clarye, you’ve got yourself a little boy.” her mother said.

Clarye’s face lit up. “Is he all right? she asked drowsily. “How does he look?“

“Yes, Clarye, he’s all right. He’s a little on the ugly side but he’s all right,“ her sister, Vita, said with a silly laugh. When they brought her baby boy into the room, love consumed Clarye like it never had in her life. She was drawn to this precious, beautiful little boy who had eyes that seemed to long for her love and embrace.

“My precious, sweet, little boy,” Clarye said to him. “I promise to always love you and protect you. I’ll love you always, now and forever.” She named her firstborn son, Eric.