Liberation Day: Stories

On Mother’s Day, Alma walks in her neighborhood with her adult children, Pammy and Paulie. In the first person, Alma thinks about her dissatisfaction with her children’s choices in life. She thinks about their childhood and their father, Paul Sr., who is dead. Alma remembers the romantic and sexual connection that Paul Sr. and she once shared, and she laments the loss of that connection when Paul Sr. had multiple affairs with women from the community. Alma also remembers their financial troubles and their worries about losing the house. The group sees a woman called Debi Hather outside her house, and Alma thinks about her hatred for Debi, whom she has known since high school.

The narrative shifts to Debi’s perspective as she sees the family walking down the road. Debi wonders when Alma will get her comeuppance for constantly being rude to Debi. She feels that Alma looks down on Debi for her untraditional life, which included multiple affairs with different men while Debi raised her daughter, Vicky. When she was 18, Vicky ran away from home, and Debi has not heard from her in three decades. Debi also thinks about her affair with Paul Sr.