there’s no room service here, momma laughed. we got a room facing the parking lot so momma could keep an eye on the minivan if she needed to. when she didn’t need to we pulled the thick maroon curtains over the window like at the end of a musical and we locked the door with the deadbolt and the chain and tested it to make sure no one could get in. momma found a list of churches that give out free food to people like us but she says we have to listen to them talk about god first. thing is, i stopped believing in god when i was eleven and at seventeen nothing has changed. so i told momma i’d stay at the days inn on tuesdays while she listened to god so i could catch up on my homework. at thanksgiving momma wanted to make a sweet potato pie like every other year but since motel rooms don’t have ovens we put two sweet potatoes on the round table by the window and didn’t talk about it. the crinkly blankets on the beds were the same ugly red as the curtains, two twin size with a dark wooden nightstand between them. there was a navy blue leathery bible inside older than me and i flipped through the whole thing looking for a dollar bill since momma told me that her grandma used to put money in bibles for good luck. the tile in the bathroom was bubblegum pink and peeling and sometimes i would lie in the bathtub that had yellowed with time because if i closed my eyes i could almost feel myself aging. but years could go by in my mind and i’d still be in the days inn sitting clothed in a dry bathtub. momma told me that sometimes when she went to the church on tuesday night she would imagine that she was at the farmer’s market and that all the produce was organic. i liked knowing that she pretended too. the sweet potatoes just sat on that table like art, permanent. and every week momma would be in line again shivering and stomach screaming listening to scripture so the god people would give her vegetables. but no more sweet potatoes.

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Published 13th July, 2024.

Kenzie Hampton is a Black lesbian, poet, and essayist. She grew up in the humid fog of Nashville, Tennessee. She is currently working on her first memoir project and lives in Knoxville, Tennessee with her partner.