Mama Freeda's Family Reunion (Fiction Short Story)
Mama Freeda don't play! Ohhhhh, Mama Freeda don't play! She'll put you in your place in a minute! & ain't e'en gotta cuss you from A to Z or lay a finger on you. Folks know to steer clear of Mama Freeda. Mama Freeda, Mama Freeda!
Mama Freeda is Cherokee Indian, Choctaw Indian, Irish, French & African American, but you'll wonder if she's simply Louisiana Creole. (Not from New Orleans). She's from somewhere out in the country, but refuses to say where she's from. Just know that she's HUMAN!
Mama Freeda likes to cook & eat everything wild, untraditional & out of the ordinary, such as nutria, turtle, rattlesnake, possum, alligator, etc. One time, she made a dinner of elk meat stew & rice with dandelion greens & spicy, buttery honey habanero & jalapeno mixed cornbread. No need for dessert. The cornbread was as sweet as cake. That WAS the dessert! She also fixed acorn soup with pine needle tea on the side. Strange & different, but the family LOVED it!
This was pretty much, an informal family reunion. Right outside in her 1/2 acre backyard. There was a BIG family falling out (argument) because the family members were trying to figure out how & why her young granddaughter Leila Sanders died. Everyone said that Marquetta, who's related by marriage, had something to do with it. Marquetta is married to Mama Freeda's grandson, David Sanders, who's Leila's uncle.
The family was awkwardly split apart, since Leila's funeral, for at least 8 months, so it was Mama Freeda's idea to bring the family members back together. (Or at least TRY) Some family members argued that Marquetta is just being scapegoated because she's an in-law. Others wanted to fight her & didn't want her welcome at the family get together.
Mama Freeda cooked the dinner, & then she gathered everyone into the living room. She gave a VERY STERN, rough lecture that had everyone swear that she put the fear of God in them. After that, everyone humbled themselves, forgave each other & then had a party.
After the party, mainly the females were crying because everyone feared that Mama Freeda would be next to die, & soon. (But Mama Freeda went on to live, & she's still alive & in her 80's.) She gave another lecture, but this time, more loving & much nicer. She gave a lecture about how important family is, to stick together. Since then, everyone got along MUCH better, but not perfect.
THE END
Mama Freeda is Cherokee Indian, Choctaw Indian, Irish, French & African American, but you'll wonder if she's simply Louisiana Creole. (Not from New Orleans). She's from somewhere out in the country, but refuses to say where she's from. Just know that she's HUMAN!
Mama Freeda likes to cook & eat everything wild, untraditional & out of the ordinary, such as nutria, turtle, rattlesnake, possum, alligator, etc. One time, she made a dinner of elk meat stew & rice with dandelion greens & spicy, buttery honey habanero & jalapeno mixed cornbread. No need for dessert. The cornbread was as sweet as cake. That WAS the dessert! She also fixed acorn soup with pine needle tea on the side. Strange & different, but the family LOVED it!
This was pretty much, an informal family reunion. Right outside in her 1/2 acre backyard. There was a BIG family falling out (argument) because the family members were trying to figure out how & why her young granddaughter Leila Sanders died. Everyone said that Marquetta, who's related by marriage, had something to do with it. Marquetta is married to Mama Freeda's grandson, David Sanders, who's Leila's uncle.
The family was awkwardly split apart, since Leila's funeral, for at least 8 months, so it was Mama Freeda's idea to bring the family members back together. (Or at least TRY) Some family members argued that Marquetta is just being scapegoated because she's an in-law. Others wanted to fight her & didn't want her welcome at the family get together.
Mama Freeda cooked the dinner, & then she gathered everyone into the living room. She gave a VERY STERN, rough lecture that had everyone swear that she put the fear of God in them. After that, everyone humbled themselves, forgave each other & then had a party.
After the party, mainly the females were crying because everyone feared that Mama Freeda would be next to die, & soon. (But Mama Freeda went on to live, & she's still alive & in her 80's.) She gave another lecture, but this time, more loving & much nicer. She gave a lecture about how important family is, to stick together. Since then, everyone got along MUCH better, but not perfect.
THE END
41-45, F