When Eddie Levert Comes by Deesha Philyaw, 2022
The magic trick:
A sort of funny premise for a truly heartfelt story
You have to love a story that references Eddie Levert. As a kid of the 80s who oddly spent a lot of Saturday nights alone listening to the weekly Quiet Storm mix, well, I was more of a Gerald Levert fan. But that’s really not the point.
The point is that this is our Mother’s Day special – a touching story about a woman whose aging mother’s mind has slipped so that she wakes up everyday thinking that she needs to get dressed in nice clothes because Eddie Levert is coming to visit.
The bulk of the story bounces back and forth between the daughter’s frustrations taking care of her mother and the familial history that better explains those frustrating dynamics. It’s not a groundbreaking story structure, but it’s elegantly and effectively done.
Then, finally, we get some resolution – and it’s truly masterly executed. Daughter (as she’s simply been known in her family) decides to change the status quo with her mother. She acts with love and with grace, while also standing strong on her own hurt. It’s really beautiful and the resulting scene might make you a bit misty eyed.
And that’s quite a trick on Philyaw’s part.
The selection:
After Tony left, Daughter explained to Mama that she was going to wash her hair. Mama could still shower alone and dress herself, so Daughter, wanting to respect her privacy, asked whether she would mind leaning over the kitchen sink.
“Well . . . I don’t know.” Mama patted her hair. It was mostly white now, too thin for the Farrah Fawcett flips, but still hung to her shoulders. “Do you think Eddie would like it? He’s coming today, you know.”
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