EXCERPT II_IS THE GRASS REALLY GREENER?

Today I invite you to sit back and enjoy an excerpt from "Is the Grass Really Greener?" We have a glimpse of Ms. Davina. For those women who have taken the world on their shoulders, you may easily relate to the character Davina; feeling her passion, her pain, and her strength. Because Davina's character is unique to this book, it was challenging to provide an excerpt for her that did not include other primary characters; whose lives she is intricately intertwined in. However, this excerpt gives a rare glimpse of her away from the other characters and shows her in "mom" mode. Grab a cup of your favorite beverage, get a little comfy, and sit back and enjoy the read...


IS THE GRASS REALLY GREENER?  “Riann, Riley and Remington…come eat!” Davina shouted up the stairs to her 12 year old triplets. Ronnie was setting the plates at the table for everyone when she came back into the dining room. He had made Chicken Alfredo, salad, and homemade dinner rolls tonight. Her husband was a fierce cook and nobody could come close to him in that kitchen. But that was fine with her because she hated cooking anyway and you could tell when you ate anything made by her hands. “What are we eating?” Remington yelled running into the dining room almost running into his father who was balancing a plate over his head and avoiding falling backwards over a chair. “Food, now sit,” Davina replied pushing the oldest of the three into a chair next to hers, where she could keep him in control. “Remington didn’t wash his hands Ma,” Riley replied coming into the dining room with an iPod hooked into one ear and sitting across from his mother. “Quit lying on me…I did, you wouldn’t know you got that crazy music playing in your head and you don’t know what I was doing,” Remington argued giving his brother a mean look across the table that Riley clearly missed as he grabbed for a dinner roll. “Ask Riann, she knows,” Riley replied around the roll he had just stuffed into his mouth. “Where is Riann,” Ronnie asked. “Here I am,” she said coming into the dining room and taking her usual place next to her father. Davina cocked her head to one side looking at her youngest triplet and only daughter. She was growing up sooner than Davina wanted, all three of the triplets were, but Riann had started her cycle and Davina wasn’t sure how to feel about that. She wanted them to all remain babies forever, and where it seemed as if the boys would remain babies, her daughter wouldn’t.  She had been wearing bras since she was 9, the rest of her body remained tiny, but her breasts seemed to be getting ahead of themselves and everything else. She took that from Ronnie’s side of the family, and her small frame too. But when Riann came to her mother and confided that she had just begun her menstrual cycle a couple of months ago, it took Davina everything to hold it in. “Girl…I gotta go…yeah, we eatin’ dinner, and moms don’t like it when I talk on the phone at dinner…yeah…yeah it’s family time and all that…yeah…yeah” “Riann Anjonee` Cox” Ronnie said in his stern daddy voice. It wasn’t the voice that he was using that got Riann off the phone; she could wilt her daddy with just one flutter of those long eyelashes that had a perfect curl. But it was the fact that he called her entire name out, which was his warning to her that he wouldn’t be able to contain her mother much longer. And she did not want to irk Davina’s ire. Clicking off her phone, she laid it on the table beside her and looked around at everyone. The entire family was staring at her, the boys because they were hungry, and knew their parents wouldn’t start prayer without everyone focused; her dad because he really didn’t like the way Riann pushed things these days, and Davina because she was ready to snap, but promised herself that she wouldn’t. “So, how was practice this afternoon?” Davina asked no one in general. Her husband was a volunteer coach at the middle school for their sons’ football team. “It went well, but Aaron and Mike not playing is going to hurt the team,” Ronnie explained. Aaron was the team’s defensive linebacker and he had a torn ACL. Mike was on academic probation until he brought his math grade up next quarter. He had received several warnings and even had tutoring, but he had missed the severity of the situation until he was suspended from playing. “I think that you boys will do great this fall. You, Coach Matt, and Coach Wiley will have to instill a positive self-esteem in those boys. They can do it if they believe they can. How are my babies doing?” Davina asked smiling at the boys. “Ma…we’re not babies,” Remington replied stuffing half of a roll in his mouth while scooping up a forkful of salad at the same time. “You will always be my babies, now quit talking with your mouth full,” she replied. “We’re doing great Ma; dad says that we might have a shot at second string on the high school team next year,” Remington explained around a mouthful of roll ignoring his mother’s request. “Really?” Davina asked lifting an eyebrow at Ronnie pleased with her boys’ skills, but concerned that her husband would tell their sons that without discussing it with her first. The thought of her boys playing with those big high school boys scared the living daylights out of her. Ronnie anticipating what his wife would say later, decided to intercede to prevent disruption later on. “He overheard Coach Wiley and me talking and shouldn’t have been in adults’ conversation anyway,” Ronnie stressed glaring at his oldest son. “Yeah, big head,” Riley taunted. “Shut up, dog breath,” Remington replied. “Hey, hey…that’s enough boys. No more talking, you two sit back and eat and don’t say another word until dinner is over is that understood?” Ronnie asked his boys. “Yes sir” they replied simultaneously. Riann rolled her eyes and quickly tried to finish her meal so that she could be excused and return to her phone call with her best friend Regan. “How is chorus going Riann?” Davina asked her daughter. Riann took in a deep breath wondering why her mother had to bring up a conversation they had already had earlier. All she had to do was tell her father about it later. What was the point of bringing it up at the dinner table again? “Cool,” Riann said. “Cool?” Davina asked with a slight inflection in her voice. “Yes, cool,” she repeated taking a forkful of salad into her mouth to prevent herself from saying anything further. She knew the rule about no talking with food in your mouth and although the boys ignored it, it often worked for her because she didn’t have to engage in boring conversations. “It’s more than cool Riann. Ronnie, Ms. Gallows asked Riann to sing the solo in the upcoming fall program. So she will open the performance with her dance routine and then follow up later with a solo…I’m so proud of you baby,” Davina cooed at her daughter smiling with pride. “That’s great, baby, I’m proud of you too. Maybe we can get Grandma Genie to come down and see your performance,” Ronnie said referring to his mother. At the mention of her mother-in-law, Davina’s eyes began to roll in the back of her head. But the look turned into a smile when her husband turned his beaming smile her way. She and her mother-in-law did not get along. She was always telling her how to run her household and she was never good enough for her son. Whenever she visited, she came behind Davina and redid everything she had just done. She said that in her day, women weren’t bogged down with careers, but they tended the home and made it welcoming for their men. To which point, Davina reminded her if that were the case, they would be living in a shelter or on the street homeless if she didn’t work. Ronnie had been unemployed for three years as a result of the economic depression the country had been going through. This always pissed her mother-in-law off and Genie would walk away with a miffed expression and wouldn’t say anything else to her. Davina would be content to leave it that way, but she often had to apologize because she felt like she was stabbing her husband in the back by bringing up his unemployment as a way to get back at her mother-in-law. Finishing dinner, Riann began to help her brothers clear the dinner plates away. It was Riley’s turn to do dishes and she didn’t mind helping him out, at least in getting the dishes in the sink. Then she would be off to jump on the phone again. After the children had left the dining room, Davina got up and went into the living room and came back with a stack of bills. “Okay, which ones are we not going to pay this month?” she teased. Ronnie rubbed his hands across his face and took a deep breath feeling the pressure of his situation looming once again.
Thanks for tuning in and the support. Guess who will be revealed next Thursday and Friday? Hmmm...I think you'll have to come back to find out. Trust and believe this is not the last you will hear from Davina or the other characters; they will make personal visits to speak with you in the weeks to come.
JUST WRITING MY DREAMS,C. Michelle RamseyFor more information about me and my works visit: www.cmichelleramsey.com