Kermit

 So...We are there.  We are in the new "Big" City!    Phoenix is actually the Nation's 5th largest city.  However, it doesn't really feel like a "true" big city because it is not as congested as other large cities such as New York City, Los Angeles, or even San Francisco.  Phoenix is spread out and then you have all of the smaller little cities or towns that surround Phoenix however, when speaking to someone who is from the area you will hear them refer to being from Phoenix or the "Valley" rather than stating they are from Avondale or Glendale.  

As I previously noted we lived for a while in my Mom's tiny one-bedroom apartment that she shared with her greasy old boyfriend Skip.  He still makes my stomach curdle or automatically makes my face turn downward with the "eww" face people make when they walk through a stinky area.  His face was literally greasy.  His hair was long and greasy, everything was greasy about him.  

Again, when you read some of this don't get offended by what I am writing, please remember we were three young girls from very small towns where most people were Polish or German...very rare to see anyone of a different race or ethnicity.

We stayed there for a few weeks until the incident happened that forced us to leave.  All three of us girls who drove from Michigan got jobs working at the Metro Center Mall.  Now, for us...this mall was huge! It was like something no one else had ever seen!  The mall had a roller coaster in front of it!  I believe all three of us worked at a men's clothing store called DeeJayz.  The managers absolutely loved us working there.  Of course, they did!  Why wouldn't they?  There was 2 younger male manager and an older (to us she looked really old but was probably in her 30s) female manager, therefore, the male managers loved us young women who were naive, open to doing anything, and since we knew how to flirt with the men that came in, we made a lot of sales.  

While working there we made friends. We made all types of friends.  I remember one person one of us met who was a black Irish man. All three of us found this incredible to actually meet a person from Ireland who was black!  I still remember his name, Kermit!  Therefore, how many men do you meet with the name Kermit?  The only Kermit we knew was Kermit the frog!  This was all new to us.

It was an afternoon after work or a weekend when Kermit showed up at the apartment.  I was in total shock!  I was like, how did this man get to this apartment in the hood?  I was so embarrassed because of where we lived, and then in shock that this man who was actually on the smaller side drove into the ghetto to locate us,  without google maps back then the only way you could find an address was because someone verbally told you how to get to the address.  I asked both of my friends how Kermit knew where we lived and who the heck invited him over? I was so stressed, so humiliated that someone invited another person to my Mom's house!  One friend told us that she gave him the address to the apartment but didn't know he would drive over unannounced.  I guess Kermit wanted to do something with us or something like that because he too was new to the area???? cannot remember exactly. But, we found out that time that a person from Ireland is not too shy to get out and do something with new friends!

After Kermit left, we went back into the apartment and my Mom got in our face, literally approximately 5 inches from the face (more directed to our friend that provided Kermit with the address) with the craziness in her eyes, she leaned forward stretching her neck as far as it could go and jutted out her lower jaw so a person could see her bottom front teeth as she yelled.  She had her arms down straight to her side and her hands were balled into fists.  I wish I could find a photo to better provide an idea of how pissed off my Mom was at this moment.  She started yelling at our friend something about "I didn't tell you that people could come over here, and you bring a N****r to my house!"  "Get all of your shit and get your ass out of my house!!!"  and there were some other racist expletives that were thrown at our friend.  Because I knew my Mom knew that unfortunately, I had the temper that she passed down to me, therefore, when I got back in her face and got in between my friend and my Mom, my Mom wouldn't do a damn thing to me.  You see, even though this lady scared so many people including family members all of her life, she did NOT scare me.

We left packed up and moved to a friend's house (I cannot remember how or who met these ladies) to stay in their apartment for a few days until we could get our own.  

What got me so confused about the racial hate that came out of her mouth that day.  And was still has me in awe is she had so much hate for this nice black guy who was dressed well and showed up to her place.  BUT.. she didn't hate the thugs that came to the house to deal the heroin she loved over anything else in her life  to that nasty man Skip!