try the patience of a saint. And no matter how nice people thought Celia was, she knew her own limits and a saint she was not. In fact, she knew she probably shouldn’t have opened the door for Sophie at al .
Something inside her snapped, looking at Sophie’s smug, self-righteous face.
“First of al , Sophie, you don’t have anything to forgive.
You brought everything on yourself. And you have been staying away because we banned you, not because you are trying to punish us. And if you think you’re punishing us somewhere in that twisted little mind of yours, then you need to get a reality check because nobody is suffering from you not being around. In fact, it is only when you come around that the suffering begins.”
Sophie took a big huff of air and reared up in her seat.
“Oh, poor, useless, delusional Celia. I have to give it to you, the sex you trotted out to turn my brother’s head must have been good. He stayed with you this long after the boys have grown up and moved out. You real y ought to give other social-climbing gold-diggers advice.”
Celia jumped up from her seat and walked over to Sophie. No. She real y shouldn’t have let the woman in.
That had been a mistake. This was not going to end wel .
She tried counting to ten and gave up at five. Celia’s patience and her trying to keep the peace through the years had only made Sophie meaner.
It was final y time for a different tactic.
“I’m delusional? Sophie, what exactly did I marry your brother, the rookie cop, for, if not love? He wasn’t rich. And for years when I was assistant superintendent in the Paterson public schools, I made the majority of our income.
I’m the one with the degree. I’m my own woman and I was wel on my way to becoming that woman before I married your brother.”
Sophie rol ed her eyes and let out a disgusted snort, her dark brown eyes flashing in indignant anger. “Thanks to me, Celia! I mentored you when your foster parents couldn’t give a damn. I made sure you applied to col ege and for scholarships. I made sure you got my sorority’s scholarship.
I even stood up for you when my brother kept trying to prove that you were in a gang and unworthy of my time and attention. And how did you repay me? By marrying him. My baby brother.”
“Your baby brother was a grown man and he made his own decisions, Sophie. I didn’t make him marry me.”
“You think he would have married you if your stupid behind hadn’t gotten pregnant?” Sophie leaned forward with an angry glare. “Do you think he would have stayed with you if you hadn’t nearly lost it when little James Jr. was stil born? That baby being born like that was the perfect out
—”
She couldn’t let Sophie finish her spewing. Celia reached back and smacked the woman with everything she had in her. Sophie’s head bounced and her bun came loose.
“You hit me!” Tears sprang to Sophie’s eyes, but Celia couldn’t be concerned about that.
Her own eyes were flowing and her hot anger refused to stay under wraps. She hauled off and smacked Sophie again and the woman’s purse went toppling on the floor.
“Don’t you ever let my child’s name fal out of your mouth again, Sophie! The stress of being a newlywed, finishing my degree and you and your mother, God bless the dead, contributed to my unhealthy state during that pregnancy.
And I promised myself from then on that I would never let you and your hatefulness get to me again. But you wil never quit, wil you?”
A harsh laugh escaped Celia’s lips and she did everything she could not to slap Sophie again. She told herself that this was just the kind of thing that Sophie would run with and tel everyone. Celia told herself that she should rise above it. She swal owed back years of bile and moved away from her target.
“You’re going to be sorry for this. We’l see whose side James takes now. I told everyone you were just a little ghetto hoodlum.”
Celia turned around and started to
Something inside her snapped, looking at Sophie’s smug, self-righteous face.
“First of al , Sophie, you don’t have anything to forgive.
You brought everything on yourself. And you have been staying away because we banned you, not because you are trying to punish us. And if you think you’re punishing us somewhere in that twisted little mind of yours, then you need to get a reality check because nobody is suffering from you not being around. In fact, it is only when you come around that the suffering begins.”
Sophie took a big huff of air and reared up in her seat.
“Oh, poor, useless, delusional Celia. I have to give it to you, the sex you trotted out to turn my brother’s head must have been good. He stayed with you this long after the boys have grown up and moved out. You real y ought to give other social-climbing gold-diggers advice.”
Celia jumped up from her seat and walked over to Sophie. No. She real y shouldn’t have let the woman in.
That had been a mistake. This was not going to end wel .
She tried counting to ten and gave up at five. Celia’s patience and her trying to keep the peace through the years had only made Sophie meaner.
It was final y time for a different tactic.
“I’m delusional? Sophie, what exactly did I marry your brother, the rookie cop, for, if not love? He wasn’t rich. And for years when I was assistant superintendent in the Paterson public schools, I made the majority of our income.
I’m the one with the degree. I’m my own woman and I was wel on my way to becoming that woman before I married your brother.”
Sophie rol ed her eyes and let out a disgusted snort, her dark brown eyes flashing in indignant anger. “Thanks to me, Celia! I mentored you when your foster parents couldn’t give a damn. I made sure you applied to col ege and for scholarships. I made sure you got my sorority’s scholarship.
I even stood up for you when my brother kept trying to prove that you were in a gang and unworthy of my time and attention. And how did you repay me? By marrying him. My baby brother.”
“Your baby brother was a grown man and he made his own decisions, Sophie. I didn’t make him marry me.”
“You think he would have married you if your stupid behind hadn’t gotten pregnant?” Sophie leaned forward with an angry glare. “Do you think he would have stayed with you if you hadn’t nearly lost it when little James Jr. was stil born? That baby being born like that was the perfect out
—”
She couldn’t let Sophie finish her spewing. Celia reached back and smacked the woman with everything she had in her. Sophie’s head bounced and her bun came loose.
“You hit me!” Tears sprang to Sophie’s eyes, but Celia couldn’t be concerned about that.
Her own eyes were flowing and her hot anger refused to stay under wraps. She hauled off and smacked Sophie again and the woman’s purse went toppling on the floor.
“Don’t you ever let my child’s name fal out of your mouth again, Sophie! The stress of being a newlywed, finishing my degree and you and your mother, God bless the dead, contributed to my unhealthy state during that pregnancy.
And I promised myself from then on that I would never let you and your hatefulness get to me again. But you wil never quit, wil you?”
A harsh laugh escaped Celia’s lips and she did everything she could not to slap Sophie again. She told herself that this was just the kind of thing that Sophie would run with and tel everyone. Celia told herself that she should rise above it. She swal owed back years of bile and moved away from her target.
“You’re going to be sorry for this. We’l see whose side James takes now. I told everyone you were just a little ghetto hoodlum.”
Celia turned around and started to