“Good morning, baby,” Mama nudged me, as I layed and squinted at my blinds from my warm, baby blue sheets. “Good morning, Mama.” Her face glistened in the streams of sun peeking through the blinds. I looked a lot like her. Same button nose. Same brown but delicate cheekbones. “What’s the day, Mama?” “March 5th, lovely. C’mon, get ready now,” she said smoothly. The sweet morning silence filled the house while Mama decided to pick out my denim jeans and black shirt. I made my bed, but the silence absorbed the house a little too much. “Where’s Papa?” I asked. “He left early,” Mama replied, folding up my clothes neatly. “He went to your uncle Caleb’s early this morning.” “How’d he get up so early? He was out the whole day yesterday.” “I think he’s just having one of his little episodes.” For the past week, Papa had been nagging about the system, but it was no surprise that a majority of the negroes were too. They’ve been targets in our town of Selma as long as I can remember. Of course, I might not have understood why Mama and I had to sit in the back of the bus, or why we had to go to those stinky public restrooms almost a block away from the main downtown. Regardless, I always had to stay by the side of Mama or Papa. But we were never safe. Now the voting system wasn’t safe. Papa’s been up way past my bedtime. He’s been in the lounge talking to his mates, including Uncle Caleb quietly; sometimes I catch them saying words like, “assessment score” or “government employee.
Mama would pretend to be fascinated by her sewing and Papa would tweak his swooping mustache and vibrate his tangled eyebrows, pretending reluctance. “Welllll …” he’d begin, “it was a long time ago
She then looked at Mary and Nancy; both, were lying on their stomachs with their faces propped on their elbows, anxiously awaiting a story. She smiled and began telling her story.
“When can I eat?” I asked, “more importantly, when can I change?” She looked at me, her brown eyes sparkled as bright as the sun, her brown hair flowing in the breeze.
Then went over and helped mom up. I was nearly the same height as her and looked a lot like her with the same sky blue eyes, but I had my dad’s broad shoulders. “What did he say?”
She drove up to the school. There was a horse statue standing right in front of the school, a group of girls were there hanging out. I moaned, already people I had to face.
We both saw it Mommy?s eyes as she gazed upon your pretty little face and tried to decide who you looked like.
I opened my eyes and saw this cute doll that had a china face, porcelain skin, rosy cheeks, heart-shaped lips, and big brown round eyes just like mine. I smiled and gave mama a bear hug this time.
After a while, Mama came in. She smiled at me and said, “Good morning,” before she bent over Sarah’s crib.
Her red eyes were kind, her tan face held a light smile, and her blue hair was pulled back in a braid to show her pointed ears. "Hello," she said. I sighed in relief;
Trudy and I made sure that all of the boys took a bath, did their homework, and brushed their teeth. After they were squeaky clean, they all went down in the basement, and we didn’t hear another peep out of them. While Trudy talked on the phone with that good for nothing Edwin; I did my homework and took a shower. I also gathered my clothes to wear to school tomorrow. I wasn’t sure if I was going to get to call Levi tonight or not. Trudy had been on the phone with Edwin for almost two hours, and it didn’t look like he was going to get off anytime soon.
Before we started our conversation, Mama and I introduced ourselves and discussed our backgrounds. She was impressed
As dusk settled, we dared not light a candle for fear someone would discover us, but with our bellies full, it didn 't matter as we snuggled under the rough wool blankets and relaxed on the beds. On the last night, we heard a noise.
His father sneered at him from his wingback chair in his study, a snifter of brandy in his hand. Draco knew when he returned home that he’d missed dinner, but he was hoping his father would be in a less surly mood about it.
Just as the sun rose the following morning, Shana stood at the patio door and stared out. Yesterday a helicopter flew over this patio trying to figure out where to land. All of this over a painting. She turned as the elevator door opened.
Darkness envelops me with the sound of a slamming trunk. The engine starts, and I wonder if my luck will be any different.