18680711 14:55:31

18680711 14:55:31

MK-S-4798

Gloria opened the door to her son's bedroom and turned her head around its edge to look in before entering. He saw him silently sitting on the edge of his bed, with his hands folded into his lap.
"Rodney?"
"Hi Mama." He looked up to her when he responded, but his face bore no change in reaction to her walking into his room.
"Oh, honey, are you OK?" She walked briskly over to him and suddenly wrapped her arms around him and pressed his body against hers. "Your father told me about the incident you were just in. I'm just relieved to see you back safe. That's the most important thing."
"I know, I know. I'm OK Mama, really."
Gloria placed her hands on his shoulders to pull herself away from him and kept her hands there as she knelt down. She has no reason to disbelieve that he was telling the truth, that he really was fundamentally unshaken by the incident - and this realization made her feel proud, yet worried. Neither she nor Jesse were the type to be overtly emotional, and to this point she had seen no difference in this regard with her son, and she was impressed by his stoic demeanor at this point. But a question began to form in the back of her mind as she realized this, and she wondered if it was normal for a child at the age of nine to have witnessed something horrible such as that and not show signs of distress? She looked Rodney over silently, turning her head from one angle to the next to look him over for any signs of cracking in his facade, and was unable to find any such fissure points.
"Y'know I'd understand if you were scared or disturbed, I would understand if you were. You can talk to your Mama about it."
"I know." Rodney said this with a nod that could have been otherwise interpreted as cheerful. "Daddy explained it, though. It's like he said - it was them or him. They were gonna kill him, or he was gonna kill them. He had no choice. That's the only way he could have done that to stay alive. That's the only way he keep me alive. It was the only way."
"That may be so, this time. But don't forget, it's not like that every time. Most every time there's always a way where-"
"But Mama, they had guns on him and they shot the guns. They tried to kill him first. I saw it."
"Rodney, listen to me. We're talking about death, here. Death. Those folks were killed. You watched your Daddy kill a man. There's no coming back from that. Deciding to kill a man isn't something you do the same way you choose what clothes to wear in the morning. It isn't like throwing away a bent nail. We can't just go killin everyone we have a problem with. That's what I mean."
"I know, Mama, I know."
"I hope you do. I mean it. This isn't some regular thing here. Oh and that's another thing - don't go talkin about this in the wide open to anyone else. Not at school, not away from school, not here, not anywhere else. Your Daddy may have saved you, and he may have done that to save you, but that doesn't mean it's something you go around and tell everyone about, and brag to everyone about. Death isn't something to celebrate, you hear?"
"Yes'm."
"Tell me again." Gloria suddenly cupped her hand under Rodney's chin and raised his head up to compel him to look into her eyes. "Who else are you gonna talk to about what happened today?"
"N, nobody."
"That's right." She stepped away and stood upright. "Well, I believe we have some supper to eat soon. As long as you say you're feeling good, I guess that's all there is to say, and you ought to wash up and get ready then."
She bent over at the waist to kiss her son on the forehead, then turned around to leave the room. Gloria closed the door partially shut behind her, and stood at the other side of the doorway in anticipation of hearing his footsteps on the ground. After a prolonged period of silence, she stomped her foot on the wooden floor and yelled out one word.
"Now!"
Finally, she heard his footsteps creak upon the wooden floor. As Gloria walked away from the bedroom, she still ruminated over whether Rodney was acting appropriately.