I arrived at my Mothers at 8am.

“What are you doing here?” Her tone was the usual crudeness. Sal was sitting at the kitchen table having breakfast.

“I’m here to take Sal with me.”

“What? Your not taking him anywhere!”

“Mom, let’s not fight,please. I’m leaving for London next week & I have to get his passport done.”

“What? London. Passport? What are you talking about?”

“Vidal is sending me to London for the Summer. I’m going to study cutting & coloring there, & I’m taking Sal with me.” Sal was now sitting on my lap, hugging me to him. I hugged back just as tightly as I kissed him several times.

“Your not taking my son!”

“Mom, he’s my son. I’m taking him.”

“No your not! And no your not!”

I hated when her eyes got that blaze in them. I knew that this was going to end badly. So did Sal, since he started to whimper in my arms. I gently cradled him & whispered that it was o’kay, but, the both of us knew in our hearts that it was not going to be o’kay.

Andrew walked into the apartment. He was shocked to see me there.

“What’s going on?” he asked, a cigarette hanging from his mouth.

“She thinks that she can come in my house, & take my son to London!”

Andrew removed the cigarette from his lips as he sat across the table from me. My Mom was standing across the room, fists resting stiffly on her hips, legs spread in her combative stance. I knew that I was in for another bad situation. As I stiffened by body, Sal snuggled closer to me, almost as if he was trying to crawle into me. I held him tighter. Andrew came over & tried to take Sal from my lap, but Sal shook his head no, & I held him tighter.

“What are you doing?” I asked.

“I want to hold Sal.” His dark eyes flashed daggers to me.

“No. Leave him alone!”

“No Daddy.” cried Sal.

“Come to me Sal. Let go of CeCe, I want you over by me.” Andrew was insistent, & pulled Sal from my arms with such force that Sal cried out.

“What is wrong with you Andrew?” I got up from my chair, going up to him to retrieve my son. Sal was crying full force now. I was trying not to cry. The anger was rising in my chest. Suddenly I feel a pull on my shoulder. It was Mom. The next thing I felt was a punch to my face.

“Get out of my house. Do you hear me? Get out!”

With tears streaming down my face, I pushed her with all of my strength. She fell back into the wall. I then sprang on her with all of my anger. Punches went flying at her face, her chest, any place that I could reach. Andrew put Sal down, & pulled me away from my mother. Her lip was bleeding, & she had several red welts on her face. I had never struck her before. I hated myself for doing it now.

Sal was holding onto my body, crying, with his beautiful little head resting on my hip. I stroked his hair, wiping my tears with the other hand. Mom was screaming all sorts of profanity at me, demanding that I leave. With Sal still holding onto me, I picked up my purse, then scooped Sal up into my arms, started walking towards the door

Suddenly my head jerked back. I dropped Sal from my arms, turned enough to see that Andrew was pulling my hair.

“Leave this house alone.” spit splattered all over my face.

“Your not taking this kid any where.”

“Get out!” She was screaming from the sink as she washed the blood from her face. “Get out you tramp. And don’t ever try to take my son again!”

Andrew pulled open the apartment door & threw me into the hallway, slamming the door behind me.

A neighbor that lived in the apartment above my mom held the door for me, as I sobbed, leaving the building.

“Are you alright?” he asked.

All that I could do was nod my head.

“Can I do something for you?”

“I need a cab,” I sobbed through my hands.

He hailed a cab down, helped me get in the passenger seat.

“Where are you going?” His voice was soft. I knew he overheard many of the arguments that occurred in the apartment.

I stopped crying long enough to tell the cab driver where to take me. I thanked this kind stranger. He winked, closed the cab door & walked away.

I was still crying when I got back to my apartment. As I kicked off my heels, I called Vidal.