Mama's Boy

Bye, Bye Sanity

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Knox sat on the sofa, pretending to watch TV in the living room with keen interest. However, he was really listening to his parents argue. It got worst everyday. His dad's voice got louder, his words cold and harsh. His mom's tears were rapid and just as desperate as her pleading.

Even at the tender age of six, he knew this was not good. He didn't understand why they argued so much. But he knew it was wrong. They are his parents; they are supposed to love each other and give each other cooties. At least, that's what his friend, Andre, had told him.

Moments later, the noise had died down and young Knox figured they had stopped arguing. Thinking the coast was clear, he got off the chair and ran up stairs to comfort his mama. He ran down the hall to their room and opened the door. In the room he saw his mommy, Loretta, curled into a ball in a corner, sobbing. His dad was making trips to and from the closet, putting clothes, shoes and accessories into a bag. Knox ran to the bed and hopped on it, sitting next to his dad's luggage.

"Going on a trip, Da?" Asked the young boy. The man stopped what he was doing and looked at his son. Or who he had thought was his son. He stared at the boy with resentment filled eyes. He'd raised him for six years just to find out that he wasn't his. He'd given the boy his last name but Knox wasn't apart of the Reid family. The eyes, the grain of hair, the nose that the man thought had come from his genes weren't his at all.

"He's your son, Henry, I swear!" Knox looked over to his mom to see that she had gotten out of the corner. She had been watching them and had noticed the look on Henry's face. She went over to the bed to rub a hand over Knox's hair. She hugged him to her breast and kissed his forehead, then looked at Henry. She said,"He's your son, Henry. He's our son."

The man, Henry, rolled his eyes and continued to pack. He couldn't believe that he'd been with Knox's lying mother for almost a decade.

He'd just turned twenty when he'd met Loretta, all those years ago. She was only thirteen but she'd had the body of a full grown woman. Which was why he had talked to her.

She was pretty tall and young in the face, so his first thought was, with a body like that, shorty has to be atleast eighteen. If he'd known she was five years away from being legal he would've walked away. And Loretta had known that. So she had let him believe she was older than what she really was; telling him she was in college, majoring in medicine, that she had her own place and everything.

He hadn't found out about her real age, or her condition-she managed to hide everything extremely well- until three years later when she told him she was pregnant. She had shown up at his door step in hysterics, telling him her life was over. Trying to calm her down, he'd said,"Loretta, baby, your life isn't over. We gon' take care of this baby, okay? I got you. You can go back to college later on. Everything is gonna be alright."

"You don't understand, Henry. My mother is gonna kick me out of the house. She's gonna disown me!" Loretta had been raised in a christian household. Her mother was very strict. She didn't know about Loretta's situation but Loretta had a feeling that she would find out soon. She'd get put out in no time and she needed some kind of leverage.

"Baby," Henry, started, "How is she gonna kick you out of your own house and why would she disown you?"

"It's not my house..." She mumbled, avoiding the second question and playing with her fingers.

"What d'you mean it ain't your house?" He asked. Loretta took a deep breath and looked into his eyes, preparing for the worst.

"Henry, I don't own the house, my mom does. And she's gonna disown me because, not only am I pregnant out of wedlock... but I'm pregnant out of wedlock at sixteen years old." Henry's heart had stopped when he heard her say sixteen. He couldn't believe it!