I did not know every detail of Kelly’s debts, and I refused to take responsibility for obligations I had not agreed to without first receiving proper advice.
He eventually admitted that he had borrowed money from several people.
Some of the people he owed began calling his relatives.
Mama Grace visited me one afternoon.
She sat across from me in Amaka’s living room, looking older than I remembered.
“Ella, I owe you an apology,” she said.
I was surprised.
“For what?”
“For the way I treated you over the years. I kept asking when you would give me a grandchild. I thought I was encouraging you, but I was adding to your pain.”
I lowered my eyes.
She continued.
“When I discovered what Kelly had done, I felt ashamed. I raised him to be responsible, and yet he treated you like this.”
I didn’t know what to say.
She reached for my hand.
