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Creative Nonfiction Coming of Age Contemporary

There are many who begin life bearing the misconceived impression that their parents would always love and understand them. Then there are those who are equally deluded in their impression that children they conceived and raised would one day conform and turn into the person they may have wanted...


The box was returned in the mail many weeks after sending it. Inside was a handwritten card atop the soft fur wrap I had sent. The card in my mother’s handwriting simply stated, “Since I don’t know how you got this, and because I’m not sure, I can’t accept it. So I’m returning it to you. Love, Mom.” That short note in the package along with the present I’d sent the woman who had given birth and raised me broke my heart.


I had once read somewhere that Elvis Presley bought his mother a brand new Cadillac with the first check he had received from his record sales. After several years of barely getting by on the little money, I’d earned from my music I had finally signed a recording contract with a major label in Europe called Decca Records. Following a few commercial flops, I had at last written, recorded, and released a single that was a hit. It even earned a gold record award for the number of sales it had generated. So when I got my first royalty checks from the publisher and the record company, like Elvis, I spent it on the gift for my mother; the one she that she had just returned.  


Being born in Baltimore, Maryland, and into a family of what I guess was considered at the time as being economically in the upper lower-class income bracket, money, or the scarcity of it, was always an issue. Sometimes, after dinner or when a television show had ended, we’d fantasize about what we do if we had more of it. My father said he’d either take us on a trip to somewhere he’d never been or back to someplace he’d like to return to. My big brother wanted to buy a car. My little sister’s wish was for ice cream. I told them I’d use the dough to buy them all gifts, And my mother, with tears welling up and threatening to spill from her robin’s egg blue eyes, said she always wanted to wear anything made with mink. 


These were those pre-PETA years when most women yearned without guilt to be swaddled in the fur of murdered animals. Luxury was a status symbol most Americans strove to obtain during the twentieth century. Mink was a luxury. It was also considered to be high fashion and beauty. In addition, their pelts felt softer than a newborn baby’s butt. It was what most women only dreamed of owning, including my own mother.


Not sure how much you know about royalty payments but I’d be happy to explain. It usually took around a year from the date of your first record sale and airplay broadcast for the record and publishing companies, as well as performing rights organizations, when enough funds had accrued that they’d finally send your first check. Thereafter, within thirty days after the close of each fiscal financial quarter, follow-up payments would arrive. Once sales and airplay had pretty much dried up, the checks for every record got smaller each quarter, until they would no longer arrive in the mail.


It took more than six months from the initial release of my modest little hit for it to really gain any notable traction. So when I got my first check it was for only a bit over $1,500. With that I paid a few bills and some people I owed money to, then the remainder I used to go on a shopping trip for my mom. The fact that I used the money to buy a present for my mother instead of my spouse was one of the many bones of contention that would be stuck in the throat of my relationship with the first wife for many years after.


On a recommendation from a friend, I found a furrier in the city. I was shown a selection of mink coats, jackets, and stoles by a salesperson who seemed to be put upon to have to attend to someone who looked the way I did. I was a young man with really long hair who dressed like the mods and rockers of that era. To put it more succinctly, I looked like someone who couldn’t afford to buy real mink. The coats and jackets were out of my then-current price range, but the stoles I could swing with what I had. There was one wrap I thought my mom would really like that I could buy for a little over $1,200. I bought that one. It wasn’t the most expensive, nor was it the cheapest. It was the one I thought would work best with my mater’s hair color.


My wife of that time helped me wrap it up for sending after she had tried it on multiple times while checking out her own reflection in the mirror as she told me how good she thought the mink looked on her. With the gift, I included a note that said, “Mom, for all the never-ending love, care, and understanding you’ve given me since the day I was born.” Next, I drove to the central post office building in the city, insured and paid the shipping amount for the package, and sent it off. Then I waited.


Back in those days, long before the monopolies of telephone companies had been broken, long-distance phone calls were very expensive. I was living and working in Europe. My parents were still residing in the United States. So after a month since I’d shipped the fur stateside I was not surprised that I hadn’t received a call from home to let me know it had arrived. But after six weeks I was beginning to wonder why I hadn’t gotten a letter, or at least a postcard, confirming receipt.


That mystery was solved shortly thereafter when the package I had sent was returned to me with my mother’s terse little note. The stole was in the same box I had sent it in, but it had been opened and then rewrapped for return. Now, not caring about the cost I picked up the phone that afternoon to call home. My mother answered after about a dozen or so rings.


“Hi, mom, how are you and dad doing? Uh-huh, uh-huh, that’s good. Yeah, we’re both fine too. Hey mom, today the gift I sent you was just returned. Was there something you didn’t like about it? Because if there is I can try to exchange it for something you’ll maybe like better.”


I listened in silence as my mother explained when after receiving it that she and my father were worried about how I’d gotten the money to be able to afford something that expensive. I tried to explain to her how my career in the music business was really going well now and that I’d received my first check for a record I made that had become a hit. Her reply nearly made me drop the phone.


She told me she and my dad didn’t believe I could’ve earned that much money from working with my music to buy a gift like that. They were worried I had come by it by doing something illegal, like selling drugs or who knows what else. That’s why they returned it to me. They didn’t want anything to do with something that could’ve been connected with dirty money from any criminal activities.


I tried to explain again about the royalty payment and that I wasn’t a drug dealer or any other kind of crook. But she just couldn’t accept that and told me not to send back the fur, or for that matter, any other costly presents to her or my father. She then said she had to go because one of the shows that they liked to watch on TV was about to come on. With a hurried goodbye, she hung up the phone.


It hurt not to be accepted by someone I loved so much. But what hurts even more, was the fact that my own parents didn’t believe in me, or what I was doing with my life. Or, in the reality of me possessing enough talent and the work ethic to profit from it was incomprehensible for them to understand. That realization crushed my soul. I tried to take the mink back to the store I’d bought it from, but they had a no return after thirty days policy. So my first and later to be ex-wife happily accepted the re-gifting of it from me to her.


I have no idea if Elvis had the same problem with his mom. I somehow doubt it. She probably drove that Cadillac car until its wheels fell off and then he more than likely bought her another one. He was the King, after all. Me? I never got over the pain of how little faith and trust my parents had felt that I deserved, and hated what I was doing. When I’d originally announced that I had no plans to graduate high school or go to college my father warned me, “Hardly anyone ever made any money by playing music!” Well, in my case I may have proved them wrong about that, but along the way, they stole my heart.


January 29, 2022 17:21

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57 comments

Stevie B
17:25 Jan 29, 2022

AUTHOR'S NOTE: Usually it's only the ones you love that can truly hurt you, and is one of the saddest lessons I learned a long, long time ago...

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Ruth Smith
22:12 Jan 30, 2022

A very sad and realistic story. I am sorry your parents didn't believe in you or your career in the music industry. I am not sure I'd say they stole the character's heart. Stolen implies taken suddenly and unexpectedly. The character gave his heart freely. It sounds more to me that his heart was broken, or ripped out of his chest and shattered into a million pieces.

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Stevie B
22:31 Jan 30, 2022

Ruth, thank you for reading, commenting, and your very helpful insights. I'd hoped this tale hadn't lay too heavy on blame but to the merely play off the use of words/phrases, for example: "stole my heart" vs "mink stole". Perhaps a reach too far. I'll certainly review, and where seems necessary will make changes.

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Ruth Smith
01:23 Jan 31, 2022

Stevie, Ha, I've done that before. Have you read my story, "Return to Me"? I played with the word sound a few times in it.

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Stevie B
14:17 Jan 31, 2022

I'll check it out - thanks.

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Tammy Cooper
14:36 Feb 02, 2022

Stevie, thank you for sharing your heart. I could feel your pain and disappointment, and your story helped me think about some of my own experiences in a new way. I've learned over the years to accept that the people I love, like me, are very flawed. When someone hurts me, I try to think about their possible reaction if they knew the whole story. I've made so many careless mistakes in life, hurting the ones I love without intending any pain. If I could go back and change my actions and reactions in certain situations, knowing what I know now...

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Stevie B
14:47 Feb 02, 2022

Tammy, thank you for reading, enjoying, commenting and sharing your heart. Yes, we all are indeed deeply flawed - and to me - there lies our beauty. To live is, at times, leaving some in pain in our wake. But as you so wisely have learned, we do have choices with choosing our options. A long, long time ago I finally discovered who to use pain such as that; employ it anytime you feel like quitting. It works so well to believe if you do give up - you've only proved your decriers were accurate in their dismissal of you and what you believe in. ...

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15:37 Jan 30, 2022

I felt this story deep in my own heart. How much it hurt you that your own Mom rejected your present of the fur stole and to have both of your parents jumping to the conclusion that the money you used to buy the stole came from a drug deal. That is a real slap in the face. I concluded it must be their generation. My parents were in their late 40's when I was born. There was a big generational gap. They were strict, they grew up during the Depression era and saved everything from aluminum foil to shoes to paper and even tea bags. We had a vic...

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Stevie B
18:29 Jan 30, 2022

Kathryn, thank you for reading and commenting. I've long since forgiven all whom I've felt wronged by for two reasons. One, there's no profit in useless anger, and two, I believe to bear a grudge too long is bad for one's health. So, easy peasy lemon squeezy and breezy...

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M. M.
10:22 Feb 06, 2022

No anger is useless if we feel hurt by those we love; but it is how we handle it and how long we hold it in our hears that determines our moving forward in life and yes, we need to forgive for ourselves and let go of the past.

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Stevie B
12:15 Feb 06, 2022

Agreed.

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K. Antonio
23:41 Feb 11, 2022

Most of the time I read something in the creative nonfiction genre I feel super invested just thinking that it's either autobiographical or auto-fiction. Coming from a family that always sort of idolized practical molds, and me being literally the person who loved dancing to the tune of the song inside my own head, this piece really resonated with me. That last line... crushed me.

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Stevie B
01:09 Feb 12, 2022

K., thanks for reading, relating, and commenting. One must really ask the question that when one choses to pursue a vocation in the arts why you are looked upon by the many as being "other"? Personally, I wear "other" with pride and strength! Let your freak flag fly, find your freak family, and get freaky, my friend!

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09:15 Feb 05, 2022

'I listened in silence as my mother explained when after receiving it that she and my father were worried about how I’d gotten the money to be able to afford something like that expensive.' there's something to learn from how you communicate so much so clearly in one long sentence using regular words without even a comma. This whole story is all such great writing that flows straight into my mind effortlessly. As I've just been busy learning the basics of writing, I noticed so many other good things about it as well, bringing an emotion to...

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Stevie B
12:29 Feb 05, 2022

Scott, thank you for reading, enjoying, and commenting. I believe the best aspect of creating anything is it allows you to take pain and shape it into something possessing a positive purpose. So, be kind to others - do good always!

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Cindy Calder
14:45 Feb 02, 2022

Oh, wow. I think this is probably my favorite of all your stories, but I have to admit that, as a mother, it broke my heart. I think writing from our own experiences adds an emphatic element to our writing (I am surmising with little knowledge that this may be a bit of non-fiction from your heart). This story did prompt an interest in me to search for your music on YouTube. I was quite pleased and also quite impressed. You are an gifted musician. I am truly sorry that your parents never fully appreciated your creative talent.

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Stevie B
18:13 Feb 02, 2022

Cindy, thank you for reading, relating, and commenting. I believe in all art there is always a foundation of truth at root level.

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Tanzaniyah Kash
02:12 Apr 08, 2022

Stevie life provoking thoughts, welcome to my world, So many times I have felt that kind of pain. Until one special day I reverse all the brokenness created by others to build up my power. I learn to give all things from my heart and completely let go! Soul touching words thanks for keeping it real.

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Stevie B
09:40 Apr 08, 2022

TK, thank you for your kind words and insightful comment!

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Darrell Grant
20:14 Feb 20, 2022

A nice well written story that almost made me cry. I say almost only because I caught that tear before it rolled down my face.

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Stevie B
22:13 Feb 20, 2022

Darrell, I'm happy to hear you have a heart and soul open to compassion. Thank you for reading, relating and commenting.

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17:15 Feb 20, 2022

Thank you for reading my story. I appreciate it, BUT lately I am finding many people just hit the LIKE button and do not comment. It makes me wonder if people are just lazy or want karma points. We are all here to hone our writing skills. I don't want to sound like a whiner but over the past week I got a slew of likes and no comments. The likes are nice but what did I do right??? Think about it. It is not just you alot of people are doing this.

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Stevie B
18:54 Feb 20, 2022

It's a mystery...

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Hen Neralany
04:35 Feb 16, 2022

This is such a well-written story. I truly enjoyed it and really felt for the main character. I'm honestly surprised that it did not win or at least get shortlisted.

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Hen Neralany
04:41 Feb 16, 2022

And to add more, it's so well written that from the beginning as I read the story, the idea that this story had some truth behind it lingered in my head, and after reading your bio, that might have confirmed it.-That's how well written your story is because of how real the emotions were, it built such a good connection between the character and the reader. I am truly surprised and disappointed that this story did not get the recognition that it deserves, at least the amount of likes this story accumulated speaks volumes.

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Stevie B
11:39 Feb 16, 2022

Hen, thanks for reading, enjoying, and commenting. Frankly, I really never care about winning the prizes these contests promise, or the recognition, nor the approval from Reedsy. I write to satisfy my own needs, and when other writers and readers enjoy and interact with me about what I've written I've won the prize I was really after from the first word set forth of every tale.

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Hen Neralany
12:37 Feb 16, 2022

That is beautiful and very inspiring. I can't wait to read more works from you.

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Stevie B
12:52 Feb 16, 2022

Thank you. A woman in the UK whom I met via Reedsy broadcasts a storytelling program and adopts author, such as myself, to read their work on her programs. She has already performed various short stories and novels I've written. You may want to check her out, Jools is quite good. Here's a tiny tale of mine she recently performed: https://youtu.be/y4FlKtOOjdg Please kindly leave some LIKEs and comments on her work, and/or subscribe to her channel. Thank you again for relating and interacting.

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Howard Seeley
18:33 Feb 15, 2022

As an adult with two grown boys, I can relate with your parents. When you only have history to use as a guide to your children's futures, you tend to doubt they will deviate off their predestined paths, whether they're good or bad. In your case, I'm sure your parents were more than happy to be proven wrong and proud of what you achieved. Now that your parents know of your success, buy them a brand new Cadilac and see how they respond.

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Stevie B
18:59 Feb 15, 2022

Howard, thank you for reading, relating, and commenting. Unless one can drive a Caddy in the afterlife (if there is one) I'm afraid it's a tad late for any more gifts...

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Howard Seeley
19:13 Feb 15, 2022

I'm sorry to hear about your loss. When I father died, I was beyond myself and I'm not sure how I'll handle it when my mother passes. A suggestion: (: If you've read any of the comments I've ever made, you'll see I'm full of them :) You may not be able to gift your parents a Cadilac, but I'm sure there's someone close to you, who you can use as a proxy for them. Give them a gift and tell them your story. I'm sure they'll be touched and in reward, you'll experience true happiness. On another note, I have read any song lyrics you have writt...

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Stevie B
19:42 Feb 15, 2022

Thank you for sharing your thoughts. Here's a tune that will be included with my latest novel's audiobook version: https://youtu.be/5YRsfZEOcqU?list=TLPQMTUwMjIwMjI6IdM6ck5GuA

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Eric Coulson
16:59 Feb 15, 2022

Wow what a story. I felt like we were in a bar and you were relating it to me and I could just nod - because even if it did not happen to me - I could see it happening.

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Stevie B
17:13 Feb 15, 2022

Thank you, Eric, for reading, relating and commenting. No, it doesn't always have to happen to us to be real.

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Dragos Marcean
10:44 Feb 11, 2022

A very nice story. I enjoyed the whole of it. The hook was pretty good. I got a sense that the mother was selfish and not such a good person when she said she wanted mink after their father said he would take the family on a trip and the protagonist said, selflessly, he would buy gifts for everyone. It seems they had a falling out because the trust is nowhere to be found. Also, the ex-wife is kind of a scumbag. You mustn't judge somebody for putting their mother ahead of their spouse. What I did not like is breaking the 4th wall. Also, I t...

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Stevie B
12:22 Feb 11, 2022

Dragos, thank you for reading, relating, and commenting. One context the story does not clearly convey is when the family had that wishful conversation, which was the late 1950s. A time when most women had no true possessions, especially possessing wealth to share. Instead, they shared their beauty and love; and that was just how the world pretty much spun way back then. Just ask any women who lived through those days...

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Dragos Marcean
14:39 Feb 11, 2022

I understand. Nice that I've learned something. Thank you! Makes sense.

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Stevie B
15:21 Feb 11, 2022

You're welcome.

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22:05 Feb 10, 2022

It is true that parents and children aren't always meant to be friends. Great plot and well written.

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Stevie B
01:34 Feb 11, 2022

Thank you, Lisa, for reading, relating, and your kind words. The greatest tool I posses in my writing arsenal is simply retelling the unvarnished truth of events experienced.

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Story Time
18:15 Feb 09, 2022

This story was really heart-breaking. I'm so glad you shared it, because it has so much vulnerability in it and so much art in the line.

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Stevie B
19:40 Feb 09, 2022

Kevin, thank you for reading, relating, and kindly commenting. To love always leaves one vulnerable to heartbreak...

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Philip Ebuluofor
13:20 Feb 08, 2022

Really interesting Stevie. Fine work to be sincere.

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Stevie B
13:39 Feb 08, 2022

Thank you for reading, enjoying and commenting, Philip!

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Philip Ebuluofor
13:40 Feb 08, 2022

You are welcome.

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Hannah Barrett
13:14 Feb 08, 2022

Awww Stevie, mama stole my fricken heart too! This was such a sad read, and so relatable. I think for anyone who has tried to pursue a creative career (or any career not sanctioned by the all-knowing parents), the sting of rejection is just too real. You did a wonderful job capturing that dynamic and accompanying emotions. So good, Stevie.

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Stevie B
13:38 Feb 08, 2022

Hannah, thank you for reading, relating, enjoying and your very insightful comment. When it comes to love, I always recall the parable of the scorpion and the frog crossing a river. With love the river symbolizes life, and the scorpion and frog symbolize love, which inevitably ends up stinging itself along the journey; for rejection and heartbreak are but parts of its nature.

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Stefanie Grace
03:21 Feb 08, 2022

Hey Stevie, that was so well written and very relatable for myself and I am sure many others too. Good hard hitting read.

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Stevie B
12:40 Feb 08, 2022

Stefanie, thank you for reading, enjoying, relating and commenting. I never submit my work to these competitions for the prize money because interaction with authors such as yourself is a sufficient and far more enjoyable reward.

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Swan Anderson
18:38 Feb 06, 2022

So heartbreaking, such a poignant story. The pain of your parents not believing in you lasts a lifetime. Thank you for expressing it so beautifully. (By the way, I caught the double meaning of the mink "stole!")

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Stevie B
20:35 Feb 06, 2022

Swan, glad you understood the dual meaning of the word. Thank you for reading, enjoying, and commenting.

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