Total pages in book: 118
Estimated words: 109178 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 546(@200wpm)___ 437(@250wpm)___ 364(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 109178 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 546(@200wpm)___ 437(@250wpm)___ 364(@300wpm)
Mama didn’t hate men—that would mean she still cared about them, or desired them on some level. But she would simply look past them in a crowd, as if they were a tree standing in her way, or just the invisible air itself. She merely saw no use for them.
Men are only needed to make babies… she’d say, adding that the world is already overpopulated, anyway. Men are stronger and can build things. Mama said women can build too, and, in fact, build better. The machines can do the heavy lifting. She’d taught Nadia how to change tires, put oil in cars, bake a fantastic cake, plunge a toilet, fix a leaking sink, change a fuse, sew on a button, kill a bug or set it free, and drive a stick like a pro. Yet, despite all of this, the woman didn’t look how people imagined she would. She had a real pretty face, and rough hands, still gorgeous in middle age, with deep dimples, a pretty smile, and clear skin with a radiant, rich hue.
She’d caught plenty of men’s eyes in her youth, and her attractive looks kept them coming. Her eyes were big and round, dark brown with naturally long lashes, and her lips were full, pouty, and a shade of plum, mostly from smoking so much. Oddly though, it only looked like dark lipstick on her. The perfect dark wine stain. She was tall and slightly muscular about the arms, and when she spoke, even when she was talking about something funny or lighthearted, her tone always had bite. Mama was habitually angry, but showed flashes of mercy to the ones she loved. Just enough to not appear cold-hearted to her core. She was intimidating. Gifted. Brash. Determined.
Everything she set her mind to do, she did it, and usually well. There were chunks of Mama’s past missing though. Pieces she didn’t share. Gaps in time. After Nadia’s little brother, Nelson, left for the military, she’d rarely seen her mother entertain anyone from the male gender. Nadia rarely knew of any men Mama dated after her divorce from her father, but she must’ve because she’d gotten pregnant and given birth to her brother three years after she’d been born. Nelson came into the world, but Mama never talked about his father. In fact, she didn’t even know her brother’s dad’s name. Mama refused to speak on it.
“Mama, you said women backstab other women for a man. How do you think that plays out? Give me an example.” She looked up from the magazine. Their eyes met.
Mama gave her a brutal and unfriendly stare, but she knew it wasn’t designed for her.
“Women put men before themselves, thinking they’re more important than us just ’cause of what is between their legs. We hurt one another because we’ve been brainwashed. Throw our own worth away and lift them up high. We call men kings that haven’t run nothin’ but their mouths. It could be small shit, like giving them the big piece of chicken while the kids get crumbs. What matters is how he treats his family, and what he does to provide. Then and only then should his ass be getting a big piece of anything. Bein’ born wit’ balls don’t make you no leader. Don’t make you no better.” Mama’s tone lowered and she calmed, but her eyes darkened.
“Sometimes, Mama, I think love is overrated.” A soft cloud of sadness hovered over her head.
“It is. Most men are liabilities because all that testosterone done made them feel like they gotta rule over women to get acknowledged, feel powerful, and like somebody. What women are calling narcissistic is what most men are, period. We just found a fancy psychological name for it. Out of every ten men, only one of them is half-way normal, and that’s not saying much.”
“Mama, you know you made that statistic up.” Nadia chuckled, grabbing her bottle of water. “Narcissism is real. My ex is one. I know another man that’s not, though. At least he wasn’t a long time ago.” The image of Lennox filled her mind. “Your theory might hold water, though.” She shrugged.
Most men ain’t shit. I don’t want to add to Mama’s indignation though.
“Listen to me. Even men know they’re useless, Nadia. That’s why they lie to us, play on our nurturing instincts, so they can use us for our natural resources. Our wombs. Our intelligence. Our ability to take care of everyone and everything. They’re abusive overgrown children! Believing the lies they’ve told us has been our downfall, and we gonna keep fallin’ for it. We keep tripping over each other as we plummet to Hell. You think I’m evil and bitter, don’t you?” She offered a watered-down smile.
“You’re not evil, but you are bitter, even though not everything you said today was wrong. I don’t know why you’re bitter. I mean, I know what my father did, but besides him, I have no context. No clue. You don’t talk to me. Not about stuff like that.”