There's nothing like a mother's love. There's also nothing like the rage and viciousness of a mother whose child is in danger. It's such a rush to feel my primal senses take focus, as threats are dealt with in a definitive manner.
It was the first night of our family camping trip. Little Jailen and I took the car out to pick up some food at the local mini-market. It was real small place with four tall aisles, a sad produce cooler, and a deli in the back. While I shopped the aisles, Jailen went to the produce and ate some grapes. That's when someone grabbed her arm and dragged her behind the deli counter. I was oblivious.
Apparently this place had a little security camera, and this older woman who was running the place had seen Jailen, and dragged her back there to show her on the monitor how she got caught. That's when I started calling out for my baby. Long story short, she lectured me for ten minutes before I lost my patience, grabbed the security tape, and body-checked her old ass straight into a soapy utility sink. I was in such a huff as I stormed out that I almost left Jailen behind!
The need to protect your young never goes away, even as they get older. Darla is 17 now, and though she's been through a lot she still doesn't know the dangers out there. That's why I was concerned when she began dating a college boy named Bradley. He's 19, but he almost looks younger than her. He's weak. I knew he wouldn't be able to protect her or provide for her. I couldn't stand the idea of this guy ending up with my daughter!
Unfortunately the more I tried to break them up, the more she fought me, and the more he tried to get on my good side. So one afternoon I told him that I had terrible menstrual cramps, and the only thing that made them tolerable was some marijuana. I asked him to get me a good amount so I could eat it (in brownies!) rather than smoke it. Bradley was arrested on the way back to our house that night. The traffic stop was based on an anonymous tip, and he had enough in his possession for a felony charge.
Well as it turns out, poor Bradley's parents live outside of the country, so there was nobody around to bail him out. I don't think anyone even knew he was missing, because he was stuck in jail until his court date. What he didn't know was that my cousins work in that facility, and I told them to make sure that he didn't get a chance to call Darla until she found a new boyfriend. Honestly, that's all I said!
I guess they must have gotten the wrong idea, though I honestly don't even know all of what went on since the arrest. From what I could gather, the guards dragged him from his bed in the night, and they got one of the other prisoners to tattoo his face to look like ladies' make-up. He was returned to general population, and then a few days later he was moved to the jail's infirmary. They say he's spent the last month recovering from multiple injuries, and is now fighting an advanced staph infection. He was so bad off that they even had to push out his court date!
So as you can see, a mother's drive to protect her young isn't always about lifting a wrecked car off of a baby. Sure, the adrenaline can sometimes throw me into a ruthless berzerker mode. Other times it's just a nagging feeling that you've got to do what's right. I know it may seem like overkill, but you can't argue with results; little Jailen still samples all the grapes she wants, and Darla has been hooking up with her supervisor at Qdoba. Aww yeah, free burritos ya'll!
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