3. Tina at the Beach:
I would sometimes take
Tina to the beach as a brief respite from the street. The beach had a
special significance in Tina’s life:
Tina:
I don’t know how mother is. Last time I seen her, she put me out. That
was about three months ago before James got locked up. We went over
to her place together. She got mad at me for no reason. I can’t stay
with her. I’m too much like her ass. That last time I saw her,
she was yellin’ and she was angry. And I seen that look before on her
face. She wanted to kick my ass. So I got the fuck outta there, ‘cause
I can’t hit her. You know, Jeff, she’s been fucking me up ever since
I was a kid. She used to beat the fuck outta me. Once she got mad and
scratched the fuck outta me. My face was like a zebra. Ever since I
was a kid, she’s been beating me up.
Jeff:
How about your grandmother? Was she rough on your mother?
Tina:
No, my grandmother didn’t even beat her ‘cause my grandmother was real
black. And she thought… you see, my mother she… I mean, my granddaddy,
he was a white man. So my grandmother thought the world of my mother,
but evidently not of me. I don’t know… she was searchin’ for something,
and she beat the fuck outta me.
Hell my mother was
wild! She scalded her husband. She stabbed the fuck outta ‘em; was gonna
kill one of ‘em. Once she was gonna kill him but instead she got herself
outta bed and told us to "Come on." That’s why I love the beach.
She used to get us up at 3:00, 4:00 in the morning, "Come on ya’ll,
let’s go wade in the water."
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