“Shit! What does she want this time of night?” Tara exclaimed as she quickly pulled away from Sam. She heard him groan in frustration as she raced to answer the door before her mother woke either Maya or the neighbors. Lettie was inside before Tara barely cracked the door.

“Tara Mae, I need to talk to you baby…” she began, but broke off when Sam appeared from the kitchen and placed a protective hand on Tara’s shoulder.

“Evenin’ Ms. Thornton.”

“Evenin’.” She gave Tara a hard look. “I didn’t know you was…entertaining.”

Tara chose to ignore this. “Mama, why are you here so late? Is anything wrong?”

“Yeah. I need to talk to you baby,” Lettie said. “In private,” she added, glancing at Sam.

Tara felt Sam tighten his grip on her shoulder. She looked up at him and nodded her approval.

“I was just leaving,” he said grabbing his jacket. Tara saw him to the door.

“You going be okay with her?” he asked indicating Lettie Mae, who was inspecting Tara’s apartment, with a nod of his head.

“I’ll be fine,” Tara tried to reassure him.

“You sure?” he was obviously unconvinced.

“I’ll be fine,” she repeated. If her mother was here to cause trouble, she didn’t want Sam around to see it. Things had been going great between them; there was no need to remind him of the baggage she carried.

Sam eyed her for a moment longer before finally bending to kiss her forehead.

“Call me as soon as she leaves and let me know what happened. I don’t care how late it is.” He kissed her again. “Night Ms. Thornton,” he called on his way out.

Lettie Mae just nodded.  “You got a nice place here, baby. I’m proud of you.” she said as soon as Sam had left.

“Thanks.”

“Where my grandbaby?”

‘*She’s asleep, Mama; it’s the middle of the night. Speaking of which…”

“Let me peep in on her.”

Tara led her to the back bedroom where Maya slept.

“That’s my little precious sugar. It’s a shame I hardly get to see her.”

Tara sighed; they’d been over this before. “You see her when I take you to lunch on Sundays.” This was to prevent drama; Lettie was always on her best behavior in a cafeteria full of church members.

“Only twice a month. You should let me look after her while you’re at work. You could pay me…”

Tara’s temper finally gave way. “Mama, it’s after midnight. What’s the big emergency?” she snapped.

“My electric bill is past due,” Lettie Mae said sheepishly.

“And that couldn’t wait until tomorrow?” Tara asked.

“It’s $500. I was so worried I couldn’t sleep.”

“What!” Tara shouted, then lowered her voice to keep from waking the baby. “Mama, how the hell did it get so high?”

“These last few months been hard on your mama, baby girl. I been paying what I can, but now them people want all they money or they gon’ cut my lights off.” Lettie began to cry. “I hate askin’ you baby, but there ain’t nobody else I can go to.”

Tara put her arms around her mother. “Don’t cry; I’ll figure something out. Give me a few days and I’ll see what I can do.”

“Thanks baby, I knew I could count on you.” Lettie kissed Tara and gave her a squeeze.

Tara hugged her back. “Now go home and try to get some rest so you can look nice at church tomorrow. I’ll meet you at one o’clock for lunch.”

“Alright baby,” Lettie said as Tara saw her out. She suddenly thought of something else. “Oh, can I get a few dollars for the collection plate?”

Tara went through her wallet. “All I have is a twenty.”

“That’ll do,” Lettie said, snatching the bill. “See you tomorrow, baby.”

When Tara called Sam afterward, she told him that Lettie Mae was up to her usual theatrics and everything was under control. She didn’t bother to mention the money because she knew that he’d insist on helping out and this wasn’t his problem. She would handle this on her own.

**********

Tuesday evening Tara was completely worn out. The last two days had been draining to say the least. She’d spent all of Sunday afternoon and most of the evening with Lettie Mae, who kept whining about her financial struggles until Tara finally gave in and took her shopping. Then on Monday the computers at the library crashed for no reason whatsoever and she was besieged by angry students and faculty who couldn’t conduct their research. On top of everything else, she still had to figure a way to pay her mother’s electricity bill without putting a major dent in her savings. The only thing that kept her sane was the thought of seeing Sam tonight when he came for his regular visit. Maybe they could put Maya to bed early and pick up where they left off on Saturday, she thought to herself with a little smile. Her thoughts were interrupted by a knock at the front door.

“Daddy’s here early,” she said, picking Maya up from her high chair. She answered the door and was surprised to see her mother.

“Hey baby. Can I come in?”

Tara opened the door wider and stood back to allow her inside. Obviously she’d come for the money, and Tara would have to tell her she couldn’t afford the whole amount. She dreaded the drama that was sure to play out in the next few minutes. Well nothing to do now but tell her and hope for the best. “Let’s sit in the kitchen; I’m getting ready to make supper.”

Lettie took Maya and seated herself at the kitchen table.

“I hate to be a pest, but I really need the money to pay that bill.”

“I’m sorry Mama, but I’ve gone over my finances and there’s no way I can give you $500.”

“What! My lights gon’ get cut off at the end of the week!” Lettie shrieked. This startled Maya; she began whimpering and reached for Tara.

 “Stop hollering, you’re scaring the baby.” Tara took her daughter and stroked her back to soothe her. “I’ll call and ask if they’ll let me pay it off in installments.”

“I need to pay ‘em all they money!” Lettie screamed in near panic as Tara reached for the phone. “You must want my lights cut off!”

“If we explain your situation and show that we’re making an effort to pay maybe they’ll work with us,” Tara explained reasonably as she dialed the number for Renard Gas and Electric. After a brief conversation with a customer service rep, Tara hung up the phone and glared at her mother.

“According to them you only owe $82.58 and it’s not due for another ten days,” she said through clenched teeth.

“I musta made a mistake,” Lettie said quietly.

Tara wasn’t having any of it. “This wasn’t a mistake; you planned this out: coming to my house in the middle of the night acting all panicked so I wouldn’t ignore you. What the hell are you playing at!”

“I need money. It ain’t fair that you living high on the hog while I’m stuck in the same raggedy ass rent house and driving a wreck!”

“So you told a lie that could have put me in a bind just to be greedy?”

“I ain’t bein’ greedy; hell, I feel like I deserve something after all these years of doing without,” Lettie said. “Why you so broke anyway? Don’t Sam Merlotte give you money?”

“Sam pays child support to take care of his daughter, NOT you.”

“He don’t give you no extra?”

Tara shook her head in disbelief. “Listen to your self! You claim to be a Christian, but you haven’t changed one bit. Still trying to use people to get what you want.”

“Sometimes using people is the only way to get ahead in this world.” Lettie pointed at Maya. “Like that baby, she can be our ticket to the good life.”

“What!”

“Think about it girl; you got knocked up by one of the richest men in the parish. Tell him you want a house and the money to keep it up. And if he try to give you any trouble, get yourself a lawyer and take his ass to the cleaners. If you play your cards right we can make a good profit off of this.”

For a moment Tara just stared at her mother, too stunned to speak. “I can’t believe you just said that,” she finally managed.

“It’s the truth Tara Mae. You better get what you can while you can ‘fore he get tired of both of y’all and leave,”

“Sam’s not like that!” Tara shouted, finally losing her temper.

“All men are like that!” Lettie shot back. ”He gon’ leave and you ain’t gon’ have nobody left but me. I just hope you gettin’ something outta this for yourself. Please tell me you ain’t such a damn fool that you just let that man ride you all night without leavin’ nothing on the dresser in the morning.”

“Mama, get the hell out!” Tara screamed. Maya began to cry.

“You selfish little bitch! I done figured out a way to help us both out, but you too hung up on that man to use the sense God gave you!”

“I said leave!” Tara shouted, making Maya scream even louder.

“Alright goddammit!” Lettie shouted back, finally moving towards the door. But she couldn’t resist a parting shot.

“You done let that fancy life of yours go to your head. But mark my words, you gone end up the same as me: stuck with nothing but an ungrateful child and life full of regrets. You think you better than me?” Lettie sneered. “You ain’t shit. Never was, and never will be.”

Tara physically pushed her mother out door and slammed it so hard that two pictures fell off the wall, their frames shattering. She didn’t bother to clean it up. She sat on the couch, cradled Maya to her chest, and began weeping.

There was another knock at the door.

“Stay the hell away from here!” she yelled, snatching it open,

But instead of Lettie Mae, Sam stood on the front porch; a stunned expression on his face.

“Tara? Baby, what’s wrong?”