ellington st. john

Momma’s Boy is set in a mixed, but predominantly black South Philadelphia enclave, during the mid-1950s and the mid-1960s. This story revolves around the lower-middle class family of Regina Sonnesta Lacet, who instantly becomes the matriarch and stern ruler over her four younger sisters, when their mother dies, during a simple D&C procedure a month before she could tell her that she would soon become a grandmother. Regina’s one and only son Tory, by all accounts is an exceptional child. At age five, his mother told him a secret that he had to keep from everyone, including her much older husband, Teddy Lacet. The boy loved Teddy and vice versa. But, the boy loathes and is terrified of the verbal and physical abuse that is occasionally bestows on his mother, when Teddy drinks and has flashbacks to something that happened while in the Navy. Self-professed, Virginia, country-boy, Teddy Lacet is proud of a very bright son that has most of his mother’s features and is growing leaps and bounds. Only Teddy’s oldest sister produced any children. Teddy was extremely proud of his miracle child and showed him off every chance he got. Regina, the oldest Sonnesta sister, promised her deceased mother, that she would look after all of her sisters and see that the three youngest girls would graduate from high school. Regina took her strict, no-nonsense and consistent disciplinary attitude from her mother. She applied it to her grown and teenage sisters, as well as her young son. She commanded the reverent respect of all that knew her, although she only stood five feet two inches tall. But the knowledge, character and common sense that she possessed accompanied with the way that she carried herself made her a force to be reckoned with. Tory’s intelligence and demeanor increased with his rapid growth. He also learned at a very early age that his good looks, manners and being smart was rewarding. Good looks and advanced growth was the main reason that he was engaged in having sex at an early age. He was actually much smarter than any of his family members or teachers knew, because he had a memory that was like a tape recorder. There were times when Tory would do or say logical things that were astonishing, because no one expected such logical thinking coming from someone so young. But, what was more amazing was what he kept to himself. Regina knew that if she didn’t put the fear of God in him and discipline him at a very early age, he would suffer the consequences of the streets and or the penal system. When Teddy had flashbacks and memories about his Navy days, Regina felt boxed-in and trapped, she coped, but had a plan. To Regina, Tory was the only thing that mattered and she was willing to deceive, lie, coerce and even kill, if it meant making a better world for her only child. Although she was an extremely a strict disciplinarian, she created and was raising a Momma’s Boy like no other.