Sassywood Man: And Other Folklores

By Lorraine Sherman Mason

In this collection of short stories and prose, Lorraine introduces her
readers to life in Liberia, mostly in the 1970s, a crucial time in her
childhood. She hopes to convey the struggle of not only single mothers
but of a people caught sometimes glued on the fringes of society-a
disenfranchised and marginalized group. She explores a time when the
possibilities of aspiring beyond ones social huddle had many implications;
and concludes with the hope of a new day and a brighter future in light of
the hundreds of thousands who gave their lives through death, sacrifice,
displacement, and time lost.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Xlibris US
• Release date: May 14, 2013
• ISBN: 9781483622026

Lorraine Sherman Mason

Lorraine Mason was born and raised in her native Liberia. She is a former clinical grief therapist and life coach. In addition to writing, Lorraine is the executive director of the Martha M. Wright Foundation and a freelance author of “A Journey of the Self: Yes, Jesus Loves Me,” a contribution piece to the book of the same title, and a past contributing editor to the online magazine USAfrica. Lorraine lives in Bellaire, Texas, with her husband, Fulkra, and two of her three children. She is at work on other pieces as she establishes herself as a folklorist.

Book preview

Sassywood Man

Lorraine Sherman Mason

Copyright © 2013 by Lorraine Sherman Mason.

Library of Congress Control Number:       2013906824

ISBN:         Hardcover                               978-1-4836-2201-9

                   Softcover                                 978-1-4836-2200-2

                   Ebook                                      978-1-4836-2202-6

Cover image by Sam Roberts

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the copyright owner.

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to any actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

Rev. date: 05/10/2013

To order additional copies of this book, contact:

Xlibris Corporation

1-888-795-4274

www.Xlibris.com

[e-mail]

129761

Contents

Preface

Acknowledgments

A Journey of the Self

South Beach

   I   

  II  

III

  IV  

   V   

   VI   

  VII  

VIII

   IX   

   X   

   XI   

XII

XIII

XIV

A Woman Called Lilly

Liberian Mothers

Brothers and Sisters

Family

Intellectualizing

Only a Quarter

Men into Boys

Gronah Boys

Country Devil

Chiggers

Rain under African Sky

Sleep Beckons

Sleep

Outside Child

The Hostess

The Outfit

The Interview

The Wait

The Second Interview

The Second Wait

The Hand

The Gifts

The Big Reveal

College

The Job

The Request

The Visit

Going for the Kill

Hope for the Future?

I Am Africa

A Sense of Recognition of the Familiar

Endnotes

To the memory of my mother, Martha M. Wright, and all mothers whose arduous labor helped sustain the very fabric of the family unit; and to the future of my three beautiful treasure troves: Varnie, Janjay, and Justinian.

Preface

In this collection of short stories and prose, Lorraine introduces her readers to life in Liberia, mostly in the 1970s, a crucial time in her childhood. She hopes to convey the struggle of not only single mothers but of a people caught sometimes glued on the fringes of society-a disenfranchised and marginalized group. She explores a time when the possibilities of aspiring beyond one’s social huddle had many implications; and concludes with the hope of a new day and a brighter future in light of the hundreds of thousands who gave their lives through death, sacrifice, displacement, and time lost.

Acknowledgments

I am truly indebted and want to convey a very special thanks to my husband, Fulkra, who believed in my ability and afforded me the opportunity to be at home while tapping into the recesses of my creative ingenuity. For reading even when there were more pressing matters on his plate. To my gemstones, Varnie, Janjay, and Justinian, for obliging me in not just perusing but digesting life in Liberia as I knew it. And my daughter-in-law, Jessi, for turning me on to other African authors of short stories. Thanks too to my dear friends, Tuma Tarty and Daphne Goodman; cousin Sam Williams for his added touch; and my childhood friend Anastasia Simmonds for reading and providing much-needed feedback.

How can I ever forget a very special group of ladies—my fellow GGs? Thanks to all of you for the support, but especially to Stevie Fleming, who, without pause, read and re-read The Sassywood Man and provided proper vernacular. And when the expected writer’s block occurred in the dead of the night, GGs came to the rescue on Facebook: Jurudoe Harris, Josephine Marshall, Carmel Smallwood, Maya Atta, and Marca Stubblefield all chimed in when I needed to know the name of the market across from the Barclay Training Center (BTC). Thanks, ladies. Finally, to my many Facebook friends, especially Maude Massaquoi-Emeh, Masnoh Wilson, and Ruby Harmon, who encouraged me to press on after reading my many Facebook postings and excerpt of The Sassywood Man.

And when my literary and professional worlds collided, psychologist and friend Ronnie Kohen and Executive Directors William Bill Jones and Kathleen Kathy Foster believed, dishing out to me the accolades needed for me to push forward. Thanks for believing.

image001.jpg

A Journey of the Self

You did not promise me a life of perfections or wealth. But in that little church in Marshall, I prayed for the wisdom of Solomon and for the peace that passes all understanding. And when the peace I was living out began to elude me, it set the course for a journey of a lifetime.

March 14, 2009, I embarked upon a journey of self-discovery. After almost fifty years of living, am I saying that I was not attuned to the essence of me? Attuned to the attributes of the woman I had become?

I lived my life in measured beats, successfully living out roles I had taken on and roles assigned to me: devoted daughter, dutiful wife, loving mother, fickle sister, caring friend and neighbor, tireless worker, and fervid community volunteer. I lived out those roles fully until one day, in a state of total melt down, I yearned for more, desired more, demanded more, and embarked on a search for more. Never knowing what more might look like or what it might entail. I only knew that no matter where my journey took me, I would emerge a person quite different from the one before.

My journey would require an open mind to new ideas, new concepts, new people, and new experiences, all vastly different from those I had lived out previously. I was determined to chisel away at the mold until a work of art stood in its stead. I expected to encounter obstacles along the way as I wiggled out of situations and circumstances to which others had become accustomed and began to share tidbits of the new self.

After losing my mother, the person closest to me, the one who give me life, to cancer; I embraced religion in ways I had not previously, since I longed to be where she was. And although in my mind I had committed no sin grave enough to atone for, I became born-again. I had walked that road before—being raised in the church and all. In fact, it was the full embodiment of who I was. So I stood in judgment of things I perceived ran contrary to my belief system. Standing for something noble provided the confidence needed to get ahead in my neatly packaged world.

But all the while I thought I was evolving, I was only spinning my