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“Normani, sweetheart, I get what you’re saying, baby. With my savings, I can buy myself anything I want right now as well, but this is all about principle. I’ve stayed with this man for years, accepted things that any sane woman would have walked away from years ago, but I didn’t. If I don’t leave this marriage with anything, at least allow me to leave with the clothes that I used to wear on my back, my jewelry, and a car that was given to me as a gift. What do you get out of holding onto those things?” my mother asked.
We all looked at my father, awaiting his response. When he sucked his teeth, I already knew that he was on the verge of saying something foolish.
“Woman, you have been screaming this same song and dance for months! If you wanted to leave so bad, well, why the hell didn’t you? Did I hold you hostage? What did I do to you that was so bad? What made you finally decide that you’d reached your breaking point and that you were ready to leave me? Please! I am dying to hear this!” he spat.
“Pastor Davidson, please calm down,” his lawyer said to him.
“Would you really want me to answer that right here? Right here in front of your kids?” my mom asked, and I could hear the pain behind that question.
I couldn’t help but wonder what she could be talking about, and judging by the look on my sister’s face, I knew she wanted to know too. My father gave my mother a look, as if he was challenging her, like whatever it was, she wouldn’t say it in front of us.
“You ask me when I reached my breaking point, and I’m just sitting here, trying to figure out exactly what time I should refer to. Then, you want to make yourself look like you are not sick in the head and try to say that you didn’t hold me hostage, but how many times was my foot almost out of the door, and you would threaten to kill yourself if I left? How many times was I ready to leave, but you have a way of making me feel guilty, telling me that I would be leaving you, just like your parents left you? Davidson, if I were you, I would watch your tone, because I’m sparing you for the sake of your kids,” she spat.
“Don’t spare me, woman. Spare your own self,” he told her.
My mom nodded her head at his words. I think everyone saw the look in my mother’s eyes, and that look let us all know that she was about to tell it all. Her lawyer put her hand on her shoulder in an attempt to get her to calm down.
“Okay, since you want to take it there, let’s do that then. Since you want to sit up here and act like heartbreak didn’t happen in the past, then let me remind you. The first breaking point with me had to have been when I came home from a doctor’s appointment years ago with Normani. Normani had just turned two weeks old, and Naomi was four at the time. My mother was watching her.
“Are we going to just pretend that I didn’t catch you in bed with the treasurer of the church? Are we going to act like she didn’t come to me months later and tell me that she was pregnant with your son? Are we going to pretend, Davidson, that you didn’t pay her thirty thousand dollars to leave Miami with the son that she was carrying for you? Right now, you have a son who is God knows where, and he’s only eight months younger than my daughter,” my mom screamed with tears flowing from her eyes. She got so angry that she stood up from her chair and threw it back.
When I say that my mouth was on the damn floor… it was on the damn floor! A brother? Oh, my God! My mom’s lawyer was trying to calm her down, but my mom was like a ticking time bomb, and the fuse had already blown, so there was nothing she could do to calm her down.
“You want to know when was my breaking point? Negro, have you forgotten that I was pregnant before Normani? Are we going to pretend like I wasn’t eight months pregnant with your junior, and one Sunday, you caught me talking to one of the male deacons at the church, giving him directions to a restaurant that you preached about in your sermon? You accused me of flirting with him, so you pushed me down a flight of stairs, and to this day, I still lie and tell people that I was clumsy and fell down the stairs? Davidson, are you crazy?” my mother screamed.
My sister and I were crying because we knew none of these things, and my mother was so hurt. By this time, my mom’s lawyer was trying to pull her out of the room, so she could get her to calm down, but she wasn’t having it. She fought to stay in there and release the things that were pent up inside of her.
“How soon we forget, Davidson! Let’s talk about the time I came home from the hair salon and caught you swabbing Normani’s mouth because you told me that she was darker than me and you, so you didn’t think she belonged to you! You accused her of belonging to somebody else until the results came back in the mail, and you found out that she was your daughter! You’re sick! You have tried to keep me quiet for years, and like a fool, I allowed you to do so! Davidson, I can preach. I can sing, and you know it. I was offered opportunities by a bunch of different producers when they heard me sing, and when I showed some interest in it, you were quick to tell me that you would keep me away from our children if I pursued it! You are sick! Do you hear me? You are sick!” my mother roared. She even tried to lunge over the table at him, and she only did that because while she was crying and showing her pain, he had the nerve to sit across that table and smirk at her like what she said was funny.
My sister had to get up and help my mother’s lawyer getting my mom to calm down and usher her out of the room. I had never in my life seen my mother in rare form like that. I got up and went outside as well. Once outside the door, the only thing Naomi and I could do was pull her into our arms and let her know how much we loved her.
“I lost a son because of him… I accepted him impregnating another woman… caught him in bed with someone else… I endured physical abuse for years. How… how dare he ask me when I ever had a breaking point?” my mom cried into our arms.
I looked at my mother as Superwoman. I swear she was the glue that kept the family together, so to see her so weak and defeated caused me to be so emotional. My sister and I got her to calm down after about ten minutes, and then she finally pulled away, wiping her eyes.
“I’m fine. Let’s just go back inside, so I can sign over the documents,” my mom expressed.
“Melody, are you sure you don’t want me to fight for the belongings you want? I can get you those things,” my mom’s lawyer said, but my mother shook her head.
“Everything I need is standing right in front of me,” she said, pointing to my sister and me.
After five more minutes, the four of us finally made our way back into the room. We took back our seats, and then my mom’s lawyer cleared her throat.
“My client is willing to walk away from it all. We would like to proceed right now and finalize the closing of this marriage,” she said.
There were so many documents that he and my mother had to sign over to close out this entire thing. The more documents that my mother signed, the more I just became infuriated with this whole thing and him as well. This fool was petty. He was making my mother remove her name off the church, and she could never step foot into his church again. He kept the house that they owned… everything! He even made her give up the Davidson last name.
I knew that God would handle him, so that stopped me from lashing out at him, but best believe my leg was bouncing up and down, and I was eager to explode, but I kept calm. My mom signed her last document and stood up from her chair. She looked over at the man who she had spent the last thirty-plus years with. I watched her as a lone tear fell from her eye, and she shook her head in shame at him.
“Proverbs 6:2-16 says that a worthless person, a wicked man, goes about with crooked speech, winks with his eyes, signals with his feet, points his finger with a perverted heart, devises evil, continually sowing discord. Therefore, calamity will come upon him suddenly. In a moment, he will be broken beyond healing. There are six things that the Lord hates, seven that are an abomination to him. Remember this, Davidson, for disaster is definitely coming your way. Take care,” she finalized and then left the room.
Since this was the end, Naomi and I walked out too. We met our mother outside the building as the sun was setting. Because I knew how hurt my mother was, I wanted to take her to see something. I wanted to show her the church that I had been remodeling for her. Although there was still a lot of work that needed to be done, I wanted to show her. I wanted her to see that she didn’t lose it all and that she was in the process of gaining it all.
“Follow me, ma. I want to show you and Naomi something,” I said as we all stood outside.
“I rode with your sister. We’ll follow you. You don’t have to buy me a car, Normani,” my mom said.
I smiled at her words. I would do that for her too, but it wouldn’t be tonight.
