Page 31 of Sweet Love From Saturn

“Naw, I wanna see baby Saturn. I need to see that copper hair in some ponytails.”

Rolling my eyes, I sat back on the couch and playfully shot my mother an evil glare. I had no problem with Mccoy seeing my baby pictures, but I knew my parents would get emotional. They always did.

“So Mrs. Baker, Saturn tells me you’re the principal at the elementary school. How do you like that occupation?”

“I love kids. When I was a little girl, I always said I wanted six to eight kids of my own. That changed when I had Aaron and Tiffany. Having two kids under two was a challenge. That’s why there’s a gap before we had Saturn. Being in the school system allows me to have hundreds of kids that I can send home at the end of the day. I love all my students, but I get a break from them in the end,” my mother answered.

She was part of the reason I wanted to be a teacher. The genuine love she had for kids and having an impact while they were young was something I always admired. My mother always had funny or touching stories about the kids. From a few of them making her cards to being at fifth-grade graduation was a feeling that couldn’t be described. I’d lost count of how many of my mother’s students went on to middle and high school but popped in to visit her. The happiness and feeling like I was serving my purpose was what I wanted.

Plants were my first love, but at times it felt like I was continuing the business out of obligation. Lately, I’d been taking more time off and that seemed to be helping me a lot mentally. I also had an interview on Monday for a delivery driver. Sapphire had been doing a great job holding everything down, but I didn’t want her getting burnt out or feeling overworked.

“I respect that. The world is getting crazier by the day and no one is thinking about the future. When I was growing up, I couldn’t keep up with how many after school programs and recreational centers there were. Even on the weekends. Me and my sister would go to the rec center and play in the gym or use the computers, for free. They don’t offer any of that anymore. If they do, it’s insanely expensive,”

“That may be true, but you have to look at all the moving parts. Back then, more people were willing to either volunteer orwork a part-time job to oversee those programs. These days, a lot of people aren’t willing to do that. These kids have nothing of their own. No music, no clothing stores, nothing. It’s truly sad, but I rest easier at night knowing I’m actively doing everything I can to help,” my mother countered.

I agreed with her every word. Everything started with community. As she and Mccoy continued their conversation, my attention went to my dad walking toward us with the brown photo album in hand. After sitting next to my mother, he passed it to Mccoy. A smile formed on his lips as soon as he opened it.

“This is crazy. You really been having ginger-colored hair since you were little. You still look the same. From the hair down to your freckles.”

“You thought I was lying about being born like this?”

“Not at all. But seeing it with my own eyes is crazy,” Mccoy admitted.

“I remember when she came home crying on her first day of kindergarten. She was saying how some little boy told her she had clown hair,” my father said with a chuckle.

“That wasn’t funny, Phillip. They had me ready to catch a case that day. That little boy was nothing but trouble anyway. Lord knows I was happy when he moved to Chicago. He was a class clown and the ringleader of everything,” my mother chimed in.

“Mccoy, did Saturn tell you she went behind our backs and let Tiffany dye her hair black when she was in middle school? Tiffany had my baby out here looking washed out with that dark hair,” my dad recalled.

“Oh my goodness. I forgot all about that. I don’t know what I was thinking when I asked her to do that,” I said with a chuckle.

After my hair color was talked about for so long, I asked my sister to dye it. Tiffany had just started her journey in doing hair, but I trusted her. Before she dyed it, she told me I shouldn’t doit since my roots would grow back in my original color. I wasn’t trying to hear any of that. All I was focused on was fitting in at school. Needless to say, I got up from that chair looking a hot ass mess. Tiffany did a good job, but it looked horrible. Thankfully, the color wasn’t permanent. My parents were so mad that they took Tiffany’s hair tools for a week and took all of my electronics. Since that experience, I never dyed my hair again.

As the night went on, my parents continued to show Mccoy pictures and tell him the backstories of each timeframe.

“So, how did she get the name, Saturn?” Mccoy asked curiously.

“Well, her name was supposed to be Maya. It wasn’t until we laid eyes on her that we knew she’d be different. She was born with that copper color hair just like her grandmother and neither of my other children had gotten that trait. All three of my kids are special as individuals, but Saturn’s differences were obvious. Her dad and I thought she looked like something out of this world and that’s when we came up with Saturn,” My mother explained.

I’d heard this story a thousand times and it was always told the same. A unique name for a unique baby. When the front door opened, all eyes landed on my brother as he walked in.

“Hey everybody. How y’all doin’?” Aaron greeted as he closed and locked the door.

From how low his eyes were, I could tell he was under the influence. Outside of him helping with my car, Aaron and I hadn’t really gotten around to catching up with each other. I knew he was feeling some type of way about being back in Pleasant Springs. He walked around like everything was okay, but I could feel it wasn’t.

“What’s up, son? What I tell you about comin’ in my house like that? I feel like I did when you were back in high school,” my mother fussed.

“Baby, let him be. As long as he’s not smoking that mess in my house, then whatever,” my dad added.

“I didn’t smoke anything. I’m just tired.”

Walking over to the couch, Aaron hugged my mom and me before shaking hands with my dad and Mccoy.

“That’s your old school Chevy parked outside?”

“Yeah that’s me.”

“I like it. You don’t see too many young nig…men riding around in old schools,” Aaron stated.

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