The first time I caught on people outside our family knew Mama drank too much was at a reception of Man of LaMancha. The actors made their final curtain bow and the director invited the audience to join cast and crew for a cocktail reception in the lobby. There was a cash bar and someone played jazzy piano tunes while everyone smoked cigarettes inside and mingled. Mama’s after school students best art work hung on the lobby walls for the parents and patrons to admire.
Exhausted, I waited by the lobby doors for my mother to finish her wine. A man dressed like a clown walked up to me and said, “How do you like having a drunk for a mother?” I did not answer and wove my way through all the other drunk mothers until I found mine.
Excerpt from Care & Feeding by Chela Gutierrez
Comments