Meadowlands. They divorced not
long after that, and my
grandmother moved to Orlando
with my mom, my aunt, and my
uncle.
My mom was the problem
child, a tomboy, stubborn, defiant.
My gran had no idea how to raise
her. Whatever love they had was
lost in the constant fighting that
went on between them. But my
mom adored her father, the
charming, charismatic Temperance.
She went gallivanting with him on
his manic misadventures. She’d tag
along when he’d go drinking in the
shebeens. All she wanted in life was