A killing. And a summons home.
In "When Momma’s Prayers Weren’t Enough", Zenique tells the story of her summons home after a family member is arrested. She is especially worried about her mother, who has held the family together. It begins: I found Momma on her knees many times that first month I was back home. Her prayers were never quiet, each one ending in wails and foreign tongues. Sometimes she repeated the same words over and over, incantations of mercy, mercy, mercy, mercy, mercy or watch over him Lord, watch over him Lord, watch over him Lord, urgency in each refrain. Whenever she’d go silent, I would tiptoe to her room, hold the door steady as I opened it slowly, softening the creaks as it widened inch by inch.
Read the rest at The Delacorte Review using the link: https://delacortereview.org/2022/07/18/when-mommas-prayers-werent-enough/
