Page 51 of Fifty
“It can’t be that bad. I’ve never in my life seen Bennie happier than he was with you. And I know I only got to see you together that one time, but I have no doubt, my boy loves you. And he can be angry all he wants, but that feeling doesn’t just stop and disappear. He’ll come around,” she tells me, but I have a hard time believing it. She didn’t see the look in his eyes.
“I really don’t think he will,” I whisper.
“Do you feel like taking to me about it?” she questions softly. And I don’t know why, but suddenly I do feel like talking. I feel the need to unburden my mind. I pull in a deep breath, hoping that unleashing the truth will release the pain pulling at my heart.
“I had a second job. It was before I met Fifty, but…” I start, but stop quickly. “Please don’t think badly of me,” I beg before I can continue.
“Honestly, have you seen the place my son calls home? I am not the judgmental type, darlin’,” she offers, easing my hesitation.
“Okay…” I breathe out, prepping myself to take the leap. “I spent nights dancing, at a gentleman’s club,” I close my eyes tight as the words leave my lips.
“I see,” she says and I can tell she absorbing what I just told her.
“I stopped, the dancing part at least, when I started spending time with Fifty. But I kept working at the club as a cocktail waitress. He found out, not just about the dancing, but that at least one of his brothers had seen me there. He was angry, and I lost my job,” I explain.
“He caused a scene,” she puts it together easily and I nod to confirm her suspicion.
“He did, but I don’t blame him. If I had just been honest with him from the start, he might have had a different reaction. But instead, I just ended up making things worse,” I tell her.
“You can’t blame yourself for everything. He’s an adult and he’s responsible for his own actions,” she tries.
“I know. But he tried to talk to me and I was too upset, so I asked him to give me some time to think. That ended up being another mistake,” I say.
“That doesn’t sound like a mistake. It was probably smart. I’m sure you both needed a little time to process everything and cool off. Sometimes talking when you’re still heated can be an even bigger mistake,” she agrees.
“That was the idea. Unfortunately, my parents decided to make a surprise appearance at my door,” I share.
“Go ahead and get it all out. Just give it to me straight,” she prompts and I can tell she’s sensing my hesitation to give her the whole story.
“I hadn’t seen my parents in years. There’s a story, but we don’t need to get into it now,” I start. “I let them take me out to breakfast, just to talk, and Fifty was waiting for me at my apartment when we got back. My parents have money, and my dad drives an expensive car. Fifty took one look at the car and assumed I was going through a phase. In his words, he thought I wasslumming itin order to rebel from my parents,” I tell her.
“Sweetheart, if those are the two worst things you’ve done, my boy should consider himself lucky. Trust me when I say that I love that boy more than anything in this world, and I always will, but he is not without faults of his own. Some of the trouble he’s gotten into with those brothers of his has put me right on the brink of a breakdown, and I’m sure there’s a heck of a lot more that I don’t even know about. He’s in no position to judge. And I’m just guessing here, but I think maybe it was his pride that got hurt more than anything else, and he reacted poorly. Have you tried to talk to him?” she questions.
“No. I don’t know what to say,” I answer honestly.
“Start by giving him the option to talk if he wants. Men are simple creatures. If he thinks it’s his idea, he’ll be more willing to listen,” she offers a smile.
“You really think so?” I can’t help but ask as a small smile begins to pull at the corners of my mouth. Penny offers a small nod as she lifts her cup, bringing her coffee back to her lips.
???
Penny’s fork scrapes against her plate as she stabs the last bite of her pancakes. She brings it to her mouth and her eyes close. “MmMmm,” she hums.
“Delicious as always, Glo. What do I owe you?” she turns her attention back to Gloria, who I’m sure was listening to our entire conversation.
“I won’t take a cent and you know it,” Gloria replies and they both laugh.
“Will you walk out to my car with me?” Penny requests, standing from her seat.
Thanks for breakfast, and for the gift,” I smile at Gloria as I slip from my stool.
“Don’t be a stranger. I wanna see your pretty face in here at least once a week,” she smiles back.
“I promise,” I tell her, turning and following Penny outside into the bright sunshine.
“I want to thank you for talking to me this morning. You didn’t have to, but I appreciate you doing it and being so honest with me. Don’t give up on Bennie. I can see that you still care for him, and it might be hard to believe, but I can guarantee that he cares about you too. If he didn’t, he wouldn’t have kept the truth from me. I think by not telling me, he thought he was protecting you in his own way. If he didn’t care, he would’ve spilled it all,” she flashes an easy smile, instantly reminding me once more of Fifty.
“I want to believe you, but right now, it’s hard,” I tell her. It’s definitely going to take a while to digest everything that’s happened here this morning.