A Dollar And Dream. Carl Weber

are you? ’Cause I ain’t got no bail money. You hear me?”

      “No, Ma. I’m not in jail. I just called to tell you I love you.”

      “Ah, baby, I’m sorry. Mama loves you, too.”

      “’Night, Ma.”

      “’Night, Rodney.”

      I hung up the phone and stared into space. Originally I was gonna ask her to go down South for a few weeks until I could get things straight with Big Red. But once I heard her voice I knew she wouldn’t have listened to me. And my baby’s mama, knowing her, she would be even more stubborn. So I was stuck. Skipping town was out of the question now.

      I looked up at the ceiling. Paul had somebody up there and he was getting his groove on. I sat and listened for a while, then I fell asleep.

      When I woke up I could hear Paul going at it again. I’m not sure who he was with, but whoever she was, he was putting it on her. It sounded like his bed was going from one end of the room to the other.