You Can Have My Cake And Eat It Too

Angie's slender fingers gripped her fuzzy steering wheel as she swerved through traffic. She was never someone that was considered punctual, but today had to be different. Mama Rudith had called all the daughters and daughters in law to her home for a meeting; being late would be unacceptable.

Mama Rudith was the self-declared matriarch of the McClure family, and as such, it was her responsibility to uphold the family name by maintaining order. She did this with a never-ending list of rules, mandatory meetings, and cruel treatment. Although Mama Rudith was meticulous, demanding, and impossible to please, no one felt her rejection and disappointment quite like Angie.

"Angela isn't suitable to be a McClure wife. She doesn't have what it takes to support a McClure man," Mama Rudith told her son Jason upon his engagement to Angie. Angie didn't come from a respectable family, she barely graduated high school, and according to Mama Rudith, she was "a clumsy, slovenly girl with no future."

Somehow, underneath all that mediocrity, Jason saw a cute and quirky girl with a tender heart. She was the waitress who always remembered his drink order, served him like a king, and always had an encouraging word to share no matter how tiring or frustrating her own day had been. Jason had grown to love Angie over countless cups of coffee and idle chit chat, but Mama Rudith wasn't impressed.

To Mama Rudith, Angie was a threat to all that she had built. She had birthed four strapping boys who had all grown into handsome, intelligent, successful men. She also had two daughters who were younger reflections of herself. Mama Rudith was proud of her family and had made quite a name for herself within the Glenvale community. Despite being a single mother, she had raised a successful, well-to-do family who was the envy of Glenvale. Any threat to Mama Rudith's success, was typically snuffed out immediately, but Angie remained.

Angie slammed on the brake, put the car in park, and dashed to Mama Rudith's front door. She made one last attempt to make herself presentable by smoothing down a few rebellious strands of hair before ringing the doorbell. As she waited, Angie tried to remember every spoken and unspoken rule that she had learned during her engagement and three-month marriage. She checked her fingernails to make sure they were clean, only to find that she had chewed most of them down to the nub. Thank God for dresses with pockets, she thought, as she quickly shoved them out of sight.

As the door opened, Angie was relieved to see a face other than Mama Rudith's. Instead, it was Keisha, a fellow McClure wife. "You're late," Keisha whispered as she dragged Angie through the door. Keisha seemed to be Angie's only ally in the McClure family besides Jason. Keisha quickly sat down and patted the seat next to her for Angie to join her.

"Colored people time...can anyone tell me what that is?" Mama Rudith asked with her eyes fixed on Angie. Mama Rudith stood at the head of her six-seater breakfast nook table. Her two daughters Ruby and Jade sat in the seats closest to her, while three of her sons' wives occupied the remaining seats. Two folding chairs were there for Keisha and Angie; they had not yet earned a seat at the table.

Mama Rudith grew irritated with the silence in the room, so she commanded Keisha to answer. Keisha stood up with her eyes downcast and replied, "Colored people time is the supposed time system in which African Americans follow. It is based on the stereotype that Black people are seldom punctual." Mama Rudith waved her hand, signaling for Keisha to sit back down, and then returned her attention to Angie. "You hear that, Angela? There is an entire stereotype based on our people's punctuality or lack thereof. It is an insult to our people's level of competency, consideration, and professionalism. It is a blemish that our people must fight against to prove ourselves otherwise, and yet here you are, late as usual. In life, there won't always be a seat left waiting for you when you choose to be late." As Mama Rudith said this, she pulled Angie up out of her chair, and took it from her. "You may stand for the meeting, Angela."

Angie stood next to Keisha, away from the table where Mama Rudith, the McClure sisters and the accepted McClure wives sat. Her face burned with anger. Angie wasn’t the type who could handle confrontation. She typically brushed off insults and slights, but now she stood in this room like a child in timeout, having lost a chair that was inferior to the others. Angie looked all around the room. Mama Rudith barked out duties and responsibilities to each woman to prepare for Jade’s upcoming wedding. Jade and Ruby laughed and chatted openly as the wives nervously smiled, enjoying their acceptance while simultaneously fighting to stay in Mama Rudith’s good graces. Keisha still sat with her head down and mouth closed. Although no one had said so, it was an unspoken rule that Keisha and Angie were to only speak when spoken to at Mama Rudith’s meetings.

As the meeting went on, Mama Rudith played hostess and sat a homemade chocolate cake on the table. “Angela, since you’re so fond of service, why don’t you give everyone a slice?” Mama Rudith said as she cut the cake. Angie took a deep breath and walked slowly to the cake. She didn’t want to make a scene; she didn’t want to be disrespectful. She just wanted to be accepted. All the other wives acted as if this was normal, so Angie didn’t protest. Angie had never been part of a real family before, and she wasn’t going to jeopardize her only shot at one. Besides, after years of being in foster care, was there any abuse that she couldn’t take?

Angie gave everyone cake, and when she returned for her own slice, she discovered that Mama Rudith had claimed the last slice as her own. “I do so love a slice of chocolate cake. Today, I think I’ll have two.” Angie tried her best to swallow her rising rage. She quickly marched back to her place, forcing her eyes to withhold the tears that were forming. Why was this happening? What had she ever done to deserve to be treated this way, and why was everyone acting like this was okay?

As the meeting continued, so did the insults and degradation. All the young women except Ruby and Jade had received their share of Mama Rudith’s berating, but Angie was an especially clear and easy target. Then it finally happened. She broke.

“I want a slice of cake!” Angie shouted as Mama Rudith was speaking. A wave of shock spread throughout the room. No one had ever interrupted Mama Rudith before. Keisha reached over and tugged on Angie’s skirt. “What are you doing?! Have you lost your mind?” Angie brushed Keisha’s hand away. “No, I haven’t! But it seems like all of you have. Why are y’all letting this happen…?”, but Angie was unable to finish. Mama Rudith was set on maintaining order, and Angie had to be stopped.

“They’re letting it happen for the same reason you are. You all came from nothing, you have nothing, you ARE nothing. Being married to one of my sons is the only meaningful thing in your pathetic lives. Come on, do you honestly think that some gutter trash like you is worthy of my son? Do you really think you have what it takes to stand alongside a neurosurgeon and mingle with his friends? Tuh! You should be thanking me! The social circles of Glenvale aren’t quite as forgiving as I am. So, if you value your position and your LIFE, I suggest you shut your ungrateful mouth!”

Angie wasn’t the type to have a clapback ready for use. She didn’t know what to say, especially since she partly believed Mama Rudith. She did come from nothing. She didn’t have anything. By most people’s standards, she herself was nothing, but Jason didn’t seem to think so. To him, she was everything.

As Mama Rudith attempted to move on with her meeting, Angie gathered her thoughts and interjected again, “You tell us that being black is beautiful, then you call us nappy-headed. You tell us that a black woman who supports her black man is a queen, but you say we're nothing. You constantly tell us what a privilege it is to have a McClure man, but where is your McClure man, Mama Rudith? Were you not good enough for him to stay?” At this, Jade and Ruby jumped up from their seats as Mama Rudith raised her right hand to halt them. “Don’t peek behind the curtain, girl. You’re only three months in; you have no idea what it’s like dealing with these men.”

Angie was confused, but before she could ask any questions, Mama Rudith demanded that she leave. Angie stomped to the door, but as her hand gripped the doorknob she froze. What happens now? Jason had defied his mother once for Angie’s sake when they had eloped. Mama Rudith threatened to write him off if he disobeyed her again. Whenever Angie told him how Mama Rudith treated her, he expected her to just bide her time. Whenever Mama Rudith reported that Angie was “difficult”, he scolded Angie. Jason was never truly her ally after all. He was Mama Rudith’s enabler. What would he say after today’s events?

Angie released the doorknob as well as a deep sigh. I might as well go all in, she thought to herself. She quickly turned around, headed toward the breakfast nook. Everyone’s eyes widened at her return. “I still want my slice of cake,” she said, reaching for the final slice and smashing it into Mama Rudith’s face. Angie licked the remnants of the cake off her fingers as she ran for the front door with Jade and Ruby racing behind her. Fortunately, Angie had left her car door open when she hastily got out earlier. She jumped in the car, started it and fled. She smiled at the reflections of Ruby and Jade in her review mirror, chasing behind her car.

Angie didn’t know what Jason would say or what would happen next, but one thing was for sure, she had won. For once, she had beaten Mama Rudith.