Lily White

Lily

            “Lilllly…hey Lillly White…where are you?” one of them sang out, causing the other to erupt into giggles. Lily supposed it was the one called Shante, even though she was smaller than the one they called Desiree, she was much meaner.

            “Aw come on Lily we was just playing, come on out, we know you’re in here,” the voice crowed. 

Lily held her breath and scooted back across the floor until her spine touched the wall.  Her heart hopped around in her chest. She squeezed her eyes shut as tears slid down her face.  It was dark and hot under the bed where she hid. A heavy coating of dust covered the floor. It tickled her nose every time she breathed, threatening to make her sneeze, giving away her hiding place to the two monsters that hunted for her. She used both of her small pale hands to cover her mouth, holding back the whimpers that wanted to turn into a scream.

From under the bed she could see two pairs of old sneakers standing close together. A dirty tattered string hung from one, and the other had a ragged hole where the big toe could creep out.  She could hear them laughing while they searched for her. 

            Suddenly a loud angry voice filled the room. Lily drew her knees up into her chest and covered her ears with her hands.  

            “What the hell is going on in here?  What are you little b******s up to now?”

            “We ain’t did nothing,” Desiree said, but this time her voice sounded small to

Lily’s ears and some of the fear ran from her trembling body. 

            “The f**k you say, you lying heathens.  I can look at your dirty black faces and tell you up to no good. Where is your sister?”

            Lily lowered her hands from her face and slowly inched away from the wall.  The big woman who earlier had told her to call her mama sounded mad.  A loud noise filled the room that reminded Lily of when her other mama used to beat the devils out of the rug. From her hiding place under the big bed, Lily could see the bottoms of Desiree’s shoes and heard her crying. 

            Shante ran past the bed headed towards the door, but suddenly Lily couldn’t see her feet anymore, but she could hear her loud screams, which seemed to come from up in the sky. Lily wondered if she was flying.  Then there was a loud crash and Lily saw the edge of Shante’s checkered dress lying against the door. 

            “I’m gonna ask you one more f*****g time and then I’m a get mad. Where in the hell is your sister?”

            “We don’t know,” Shante said.

            To Lily it sounded like she was talking with her head under a pillow. Lily could hear the fear in her voice. The woman stomped towards the sound of that muffled voice, and Lily forced herself to scramble out of her hiding place almost under her feet as she charged towards Shante. 

            “What the f**k…” she said, staring down at Lily in surprise, as if she had not just been asking for her only moments ago. 

            Lily stood staring up at the woman. The cries that she had held back with such determination suddenly burst free from her mouth filling the room with terrified shrieks.

            The woman bent down and snatched Lily roughly from the floor, hurting her arm and making her scream louder.  Her mouth was twisted in an ugly shape like a nasty snake, and her eyes looked like the sky right before the Devil beat his wife.  A funny smell came from her mouth making Lily turn her head to try to get away from it as it climbed up her nose. 

            “You all right Lily? What these nasty chilren do to you?” she asked, shaking her even though her voice had grown softer. 

            “Stop that hollerin child ain’t no need.  Is you hurt?” she asked, shaking her again. 

            “No ma’am,” Lily said, her tiny voice getting lost in the cries of denial of wrong doing coming from Shante and her older sister who had picked themselves up off the floor and stood with their backs against the door. 

            “Shante, Desiree, I’m a beat the tar out of you if I find out y’all hurt this baby one little bit, and I do mean one little bit! If y’all didn’t do nothin to her then why she hollerin like this, and why was she under the bed?” 

            “Don’t know,” they said, staring at the floor. 

            “Whether y’all like it or not, this here is y’all sister and you better gets used to it, she ain’t going nowhere now.  She’s going to eat with y’all, sleep with y’all, and y’alls gonna look after her, you hear?” the lady said, shaking Lily like a rag doll.

            “Ain’t no cracker no sister of mine,” Shante said, balling her small hands into fists. 

            “What’s that you say?” the lady asked, tossing Lily to the side and taking a step towards Shante. 

           

Shante stood for a second as if she was shocked that the words had come out of her mouth, and then she turned and ran out the room leaving behind the sound of her feet pounding down the stairs before the front door to the house slammed closed. 

            “You little b*****d, wait til I get my hands on you,” the lady screamed from the top of the stairs where she had given up her chase of Shante. 

            Lily stood sniffling and wiping snot from her dripping nose as Desiree stared at her from across the room.

            “Why don’t you stop crying like a big baby, nobody ain’t did nothing to you.  Why you trying to get us into trouble?” she asked.

            Suddenly it all became too much for Lily. Yesterday had been her birthday.  She had turned 5 years old and would finally be able to ride the big yellow bus to the school with all the other kids in the fall. She had sat at the big table in the sunny kitchen with her mama. Mama had made her favorite breakfast of grits, eggs, and bacon.  Her mama had even made the special biscuits that she called cat’s head just for her.

         Lily had opened the small pile of presents that her mama had brought for her in town. She had loved the soft baby doll, new storybook, and beautiful white dress with ruffles and the pink ribbon that she had rushed to put on as soon as breakfast was over.

       Then like every other summer morning, she helped her mama hang the wash onto the clothesline before the hot Alabama sun came out and burned all the cool out of the day. She had been lying in the warm sweet smelling grass staring up into the bright blue summer sky, listening to the hum of the mosquitoes and the occasional burst of song from the birds hiding from the heat in the trees above when she heard the car.  At first it was just a drone in the back of her head like all the other cars that rumbled past on their way into town. She ignored it until it swung away from the main road and bumped down the wide dirt path that led to their house. 

       She leapt from the grass and ran to the edge of the yard where she bent down and stared through the slats of the wooden fence watching it come. She hoped that it was her papa returning home from his work. It seemed like it had been so long since he had gone away.

The car stopped in a cloud of dust in front of the fence and Lily heard music drifting from the open window, but no one came out.  The sound of the screen door banging behind her made Lily jump and she turned around to see her mama standing in the door twisting the red and white dishtowel she had been using to clean up the breakfast dishes between her fingers. 

She took a step down the stairs and raised her hand to shade her eyes from the sun and looked out at the car parked in front of the house.  Her mama opened her mouth as if she was going to call out to her when the music clicked off and the doors of the car opened up.

        “Lily, come here,” her mama said.

          Lily sat in the grass staring stupidly at her, too afraid to move.  Her mama’s face had turned as gray as the dust that swirled around the car and tears ran down her round cheeks. 

her belly and she felt all shaky.  It seemed as if all the sound had gone out of the day.  She couldn’t seem to hear the birds or the mosquitoes anymore. The shaking in Lily’s belly spread to her whole body as she sat in the grass staring at her mama.

      “Come here now,” her mama said, sounding just like she had the time Lily had come home with her foot dripping blood after stepping on a piece of glass in the road. Lily jumped up from the grass and ran to her, wrapping her arms around her thick legs and burying her face into her flowered-covered housedress. They stood there together in the hot morning sun staring at the car, waiting. 

      When the man stepped out of the car Lily thought that he was the prettiest man she had ever seen.  His skin was as dark and smooth as her favorite chocolate bar and his eyes sparkled like the crystal that mama kept in her special cabinet.  His head was covered in curly black hair that reminded Lily of one of her favorite doll babies. He was dressed as fancy as the white insurance man that came by once a month to take mama’s money and had a big grin on his face like a circus clown, but to Lily it didn’t look friendly. Instead it made her feel all fluttery inside like the time she had found the dead baby bird. 

        The woman who stood beside him was as dark as the man’s, but to Lily it looked as dull as dirt and her eyes were, the same color brown as the mud after it rained. She stood behind the man looking down at Lily and her mother without blinking.  Her big lips were pressed together so hard that it looked like it hurt. Her large hands were balled into fist that made it look like she wanted to hit them. 

        Her clothes weren’t fancy like the man’s either. She wore a simple brown dress and an ugly pair of scruffy brown shoes that looked as worn down as Lily’s play shoes. She didn’t move as the man walked towards her mama.

         “Well, well, Mae here we are again.  Long time,” the man said, still grinning.

        “What you want Willie?” her mama asked.

        “Ahhh come on Mae you know why I’m here.”

        “Leave here Willie.  You just leave here right now.  Joseph will be here…”

        The man threw back his head and laughed. Mama’s mouth snapped shut, and Lily saw that the tears were falling down her face again.

       “Please Willie don’t do this.”

       “I told you I would be back. Now why don’t you make this easier for everybody and just let her go.”

       “She belongs here,” her mama said, but now her voice was so soft that Lily could barely hear her. Lily pressed her face into her mama’s legs.

       “She belongs with me. I’m her family, and you stole her from me, you with all your lies. You tried to keep her from me, I’m taking her now,” the man said.

       Her mama reached down and snatched her up into her arms and turned as if she was going to run when the man spoke.

      “Don’t do nothing stupid Mae.  She’s my daughter, and I’m taking her one way or another and it ain’t nothing you can do about it, so make it easy on her and let her loose. Ain’t that what Patty would have wanted?”

     “Please Willie, I’m begging you I have money…”

     “Yo money won’t do you no good Mae and it seems you ain’t got no body here to do yo dirty work for you this time, huh.”

 The man laughed and reached out and snatched Lily from her mama’s arms.

She had screamed and tried to break away from the man, but he had thrown her to the woman as if she wasn’t nothing more than a sack of potatoes. The fear that had kept her frozen, clinging to her mama’s legs as she listened to the strange man talk broke as the woman carried her away from her mama. She used her fingernails to claw at the woman’s hands trying to escape. She spit and tried to bite the woman, but the woman just kept walking, carrying her further and further away from her mama.

    “Mama…please…mama pleeese don’t make me go…pleeeese…I promise I’ll be good I won’t knock the clothes off the line no more I promise…please…let me stay mama…I won’t tease the chickens….pleeeese,” Lily screamed.”

    Her mama ran down the steps after her but the man stepped in front of her. Lily saw him bend over her and whisper something into her ear like he was telling her a secret. Her mama grabbed hold of the man and fell to her knees in the dirt.

   The lady opened the back door of the car as Lily struggled in her arms and threw her inside. As the door slammed shut Lily rushed to the open window. The lady stood there looking down at her.

“Sit down and shut up,” the lady said, turning her back on Lily and opening the front door of the car.

     Lily stared out the window. The man was walking back towards the car, a big smile on his face.  Behind him Lily could see her mama kneeling in the dirt, her hands rose to the sky as if she was in church, her back shaking; the sound of her crying hung in the thick summer air. The man climbed into the car and slammed the door. As they drove away Lily saw her mother crawling on her knees after the car. Lily curled into a ball on the back seat and cried.

     As he drove, the man talked over the constant blare of the radio.

     “You know that woman back there she wasn’t none of your mother, she was a liar. Me and Patty we’s your real mama and daddy, of course you can call us whatever you like, mom, dad, pop, whatever makes you happy,” he said.

     “I want to go home,” Lily said.

     “We’re taking you home to Cleveland, Ohio.  You know where Ohio is?” he asked.

     “No sir,” Lily said.

     “Well you’re gonna love it, you’ll see. It’s a big city, we got a big house, and you got sisters, two of em and they cain’t wait to meet you.  One’s name is Desiree she the oldest, she’s nine. Do you know how old you are?” he asked.

    “I’m five today, my mama bought…”

    “I done told you that woman ain’t yo mama. Don’t make me have to tell you again,” he said, and Lily could tell from the sound of his voice that the big grin was gone from his face.

    “Yo other sister’s name is Shante she’s seven she’s a little hellcat that one, but she’ll be glad to see you too don’t you worry.  They ain’t as pretty as you, but that ain’t they fault they got more black in em than you do.  Desiree now that’s a smart one there always got her nose stuck in one damn book or another. I guess she gonna need all the brains she got with a face like hers,” he said slapping the seat of the car beside him as he laughed. 

Lily peeked over the backseat at the lady she sat staring straight ahead. She could hear her humming a song under her breath, but it wasn’t the same song that blasted from the radio. Instead it sounded like one of the songs that they sang at the church her and mama went to every Sunday.

    “You gone head and get yoself some sleep it’s a long ride and I’m sure you tired,” the man said.

    “Please won’t you take me back home,” Lily said, feeling the tears start up again.

     The lady turned around and looked down at her and Lily knew she was really mad.

     “If you don’t shut up all this damn whining I’m goin to whup yo little precious behind. You hear me girl?” The woman said.

The man laughed out loud again as Lily shook her head. The lady turned back around in her seat and started to hum again.

      Day turned into night and back to day again with the car only stopping for gas. Lily had started to wonder if they would ever stop when the car finally pulled up in front of a big dirty white house that sat on the edge of a concrete field surrounded by a rusted metal fence. Dingy chipped white paint peeled away from the shaky wooden frame and rows of dark windows stared out at her like empty eye sockets. As Lily trudged behind her new mama and daddy up the wobbling wooden steps, she was sure that no one inside would be happy to see her.  

 

Desiree

           Desiree stared at the tiny pale-faced girl in horror. Tears made streaks through the dirt from under the bed that covered her face. Her long brown hair covered in dust lay in tangles down her back. Her once snow-white dress with the pink sash and the perfect ruffles was torn and stained a dingy gray. As Desiree stared at her, her pale skin turned a brilliant red. Her eyes stretched wide in her face and her mouth dropped open like a door with a broken hinge.

            To Desiree she looked like a cartoon character caught in mid scream, and under different circumstances Desiree would have laughed until she peed her pants, but not now she wouldn’t.  Now as she saw the girl’s lips began to twist into a scream all she could think about was shutting her up before it was too late. 

            As Lily’s mouth dropped open, Desiree launched herself across the room landing hard on top of her knocking her backwards onto the bed. Fear made Desiree’s small scrawny body dance like a live wire as she tried to quiet the whimpering child beneath her.  She pressed both of her hands down over Lily’s mouth using all the weight of her too-thin body to keep the sounds of panic from escaping Lily’s lips. 

            “Stop it please won’t you stop before she hears you. I’m not going to hurt you, I promise, please be still,” she said, as Lily scratched her hands trying to free herself.

            Suddenly Lily’s brown eyes widened in surprise and without warning Desiree was snatched from on top of her and hurled across the room. She slid down the wall to land in a heap on the floor where she stared up into the crazed eyes of her mother.

            “Git up!” she yelled. “I say git up! Don’t try to play like you don’t hear me, I ain’t hurt you,” she yelled, raising her foot and kicking Desiree in the side. 

            “Desiree if you don’t git yo a*s up, I’m a beat you with a stention cord, you hear me!”

            “Aw what the hell is all this damn noise about?  Cain’t a man get any sleep around here?  Patty you know I got a headache. Why you cain’t keep these damn kids quiet without screaming like a fool?”

From the floor Desiree could see a blurry image of her father standing in the doorway.  His eyes were bloodshot red and he wore a nasty frown on his face.  His normally perfect curly Afro was crushed to one side. A pair of baggy boxer shorts billowed around his skinny thighs.  He absently rubbed his stomach, which poked out into a small potbelly as he looked at the scene in front of him.

            “For your information, this little b*****d done tried to kill yo precious white baby.  I came in here and found her choking her to death.  Look at her,” she said, pointing to Lily, who lay curled in a ball in the furthest corner of the bed. 

            “I wasn’t…” Desiree said trying to explain, but her mother raised her foot and kicked her in the stomach again before she could finish. 

            “You callin me a liar?  You sayin I didn’t see you with yo hands wrapped around this chiles neck?”  her mother screamed, spit flying from her mouth. 

            “Patty that’s enough, I ain’t going to no hospital, and I ain’t going to jail over no bullshit. Lily come here,” the man said, standing over the bed and holding his arms out to her. 

            “I was just trying to keep her quiet.  I wasn’t trying to hurt her,” Desiree said.

            “I saw you, you liar,” the woman said, turning her back on Desiree and joining her father at the edge of the bed. 

            “She’s all right, just a little shook up,” he said, holding the shaking Lily in his arms. “You’re all right ain’t you girl?” he asked, sitting down on the bed and putting Lily on his lap, letting his wide hands play in her dusty, tangled hair.

            “Desiree, you weren’t trying to kill your little sister, were you?” he asked, glancing down at Desiree who still lay balled up on the floor. 

            “No sir,” she said, through her tears. 

            “I didn’t think so, because this here is your baby sister and it’s your responsibility to look after her and see that she don’t get hurt, just like you do with Shante, you understand that, don’t you?” he asked. 

            “Yes sir,” Desiree said, without looking at him. 

            “That’s good honey, because if she gets hurt, I’m going to make sure you hurt too, you understand?” he asked, now his lips curved into a smile even as his eyes turned to ice. 

            “Yes sir,” Desiree said, bobbing her head up and down, her eyes wide with fear. 

            “Good girl.  Now you know you have to be punished for hurting your sister don’t you? You know I don’t like to, but I ain’t got no choice…”

            “Please daddy I’m sorry…I didn’t mean to…”

            “Sure you didn’t, that’s always the first thing out of y’alls mouth after you done did something you ain’t had no bisness doing in the first place, you didn’t mean to.

            Well if you didn’t mean to then you shouldna did it in the first place,” her mother said.

Desiree closed her eyes as a wave of hate swept through her with such force that she felt sick with it. For one wild moment she saw them, all three of them, her sick twisted mother, her dad, who really didn’t give a damn, and his precious fake white baby, lying dead at her feet in a heap of blood and guts.

            “Your mama’s right Desiree, I can’t let you off, you’ll never learn then.  This is for your own good.  Now take off your clothes and get in the closet and shut the door.  I’ll come get you later for your punishment,” he said, standing up from the bed and carrying Lily out of the room with him. 

At the sound of those words Desiree began to scream. Her mother grabbed her by her hair and dragged her across the floor to the closet. She flung open the door and tossed her into the hot musty darkness. The door slammed shut and she heard her mother stomp away.  Desiree crawled into a corner of the closet. Wrapping her arms around her knees and closing her eyes, she rocked back and forth and began to count. Slowly the darkness fell away as she escaped into her other world.

 

 

 

Lily

         The sound of Desiree’s cries filled the house like a mourning ghost. Lily saw Shante’s eyes peek from around the dingy beige curtain that covered the window in the hall as the man who called himself her daddy carried her from the bedroom into the bathroom. He sat her on the cold white seat of the toilet while he went back to give Desiree her punishment.

“They gonna beat her because of you.”

Not wanting to, Lily opened her eyes to find Shante standing in the doorway staring in at her. Even though she was younger than Desiree she was bigger.  While Desiree was skinny as a switch, Shante was thick and strong as a tree limb. She had the prettiest skin, smooth and brown as her mama’s morning coffee and eyes that looked like shiny new pennies. Her hair was braided straight back into cornrows.  It made Lily think of her friend Delia who always wore cornrows. She had even tried to braid Lily’s hair that way once, but had given up saying she had white-folks hair.

“Uh uh,” Lily said, shaking her head from side to side. 

           “Why you have to come here anyway? Why you couldn’t stay with you own mama and daddy? Why you have to come and take ours?”

            “I want to go home, I want my mama and papa,” Lily said.

She could feel tears running down her face and as they leaked into her mouth she could taste the salt mixed with dust on her tongue.                    

            Suddenly, screams mixed with loud popping sounds that reminded Lily of frying grease came from the bedroom where they had left Desiree.

            “They using the stention cord on her…they didn’t have to use the stention cord,” Shante said, her voice shook as tears fell down her round coffee-colored cheeks.  

           “I hate you, I hate you, I hate you,” she said, before turning and disappearing down the stairs.

Lily sat as still as possible on the cold toilet seat, her eyes squeezed closed, her hands pressed tightly together. “Dear Lord please let your angels watch over me and keep me in their blessed sight,” she said, her lips moving quickly as she recited the prayer over and over that her mama had taught her to say anytime she was afraid.  

           After what seemed like a long time to Lily, the popping sounds stopped, and the screams slowed until they disappeared into nothing, and the big house was quiet again. The sounds of footsteps broke the silence and as they came closer, Lily felt her heart moving around in her chest as if it had feet and was trying to run away.   Her new mama and daddy stood in the bathroom door.  

            “They won’t hurt you anymore,” the man said, his voice was soft as he bent down to face Lily and Lily thought he looked sad. “Lord I hate to have to do that to your sister, especially Desiree. I believe she’s mostly a good kid, but your mother’s right you know. If I don’t keep em in line they ain’t gonna be worth s**t.   Just you remember what I told you before they’s your sisters, just like I said, but you got to be careful with them they’re different than you.  They can’t help it they just rougher that’s all.  It’s not their fault; it’s the way they were born.  I know you don’t understand yet, but you will one day.  It’s the difference between white and black women, black women they just harder,” he said, standing up and facing the woman who hurried to put a big smile on her face. 

            “Patty I done told you, this is my baby and she’s going to be happy here, so you better start getting those girls to understanding that real quick, you hear? I don’t want to have to keep going through this s**t, you dig?”

             “Jackson, they’s yo kids too, same as her,” the woman said, putting her hands on her hips. 

            Whirling around the man hit her on the side of her face.  Lily’s eyes widened with shock as the lady stumbled against the door covering her face where the man had hit her.

            “I don’t need you to tell me who my kids are woman.  I said you better make them understand that this one is special, you understand me?” he asked, raising his hand as if he was going to hit her again.  The woman flinched away from the man’s open hand and a grin spread across his face. 

           “That’s what I thought,” he said. “I’m going to get dressed then I’m going out, get this baby cleaned up. I’m sure she’s hungry by now, don’t you think?” 

           Without waiting for the woman to answer the man dropped a quick kiss on Lily’s cheek and pushed the woman out the way as he stomped out the bathroom. The woman’s hand slid away from her face as she pushed away from the door.  Without a word she filled the tub with water.  Barely looking at Lily she undressed her, picked her up, and dropped her into the water. Lily squirmed and bit down on her lip trying not to scream as the too-hot water stung her skin.

          New tears filled her eyes as the woman scrubbed her body with a hard scratchy brush. She didn’t speak or look at Lily as she yanked a comb through her tangled hair. When she finished she dropped her hands to her sides and stood and walked to the bathroom door. The sound of the door slamming from downstairs made Lily and the woman jump and Lily knew the man was gone. 

        “Come on then,” she said, and Lily hurried to follow her as she left the bathroom and marched down the hall back to the bedroom. Lily looked around for Desiree, but the room was empty. The lady turned and walked out, leaving Lily standing in the middle of the room naked. Lily thought she heard a noise like a hurt kitten might make coming from the closet and she took a step towards the door.

       “Here,” the lady said.

        The sound of her voice scared Lily and she turned around to see her standing in the door looking at her. Lily felt like she had been caught doing something wrong, like playing with matches.

        “Your father bought these for you,” she said, throwing a bundle of clothes at Lily from the doorway. Lily bent down and picked up a long frilly white nightgown with big puffy sleeves and ruffles around the neck, and a new pair of clean white underpants.

     “Put them on, and git downstairs,” the woman said, turning and walking away.

      Lily forgot about the noise she thought she had heard as she rushed to put on the clothes. She didn’t want the lady mad at her anymore and she didn’t want to get the stention cord either. As soon as she was dressed she ran from the room down the stairs into the dining room.

      The walls were covered with pictures of God, but they weren’t like the pictures that were on the walls at her house.  These pictures were of a scary God with blood running down his face and hands, or covering his whole body.  In one picture his eye sockets were empty and his mouth hung open as if he was screaming in pain.  It made her think of the way Desiree had screamed when they beat her with the stention cord and she jerked her head away.

     In between the pictures there were crosses, lots of crosses; some of them had Jesus hanging on them. Even though it was still hot and light outside, inside the room felt cold and dark.  A shiver raced up Lily’s back and she folded her hands together like she did when she was praying.

There were two small tables besides a big eating table and a mantelpiece. There were candles and copies of bibles on each of them. 

     “Sit,” the woman said, pointing at the long dark wooden table. 

Lily thought of her mama sitting at home in their sunny dining room at the long wooden table that mama said papa’s father had made with his own two hands. She thought about how the sunlight coming through the windows always made it shine and she felt tears burn her eyes again.

     “I said sit girl,” the woman said snatching her by the collar and slamming her into one of the high-backed wooden chairs that surrounded the table and pushed it forward. Lily swallowed a grunt of pain as her chin slammed into the table.

     “Clumsy brat,” the woman said, turning away and walking to the bottom of the stairs.

     “Desiree…Desiree get yo lazy a*s down here and get dinner on now,” the lady screamed up the stairs.

      Lily didn’t turn around as Desiree ran down the stairs and rushed past her into the kitchen. The woman followed Desiree and Lily sat at the table alone.

     When Lily dared to twist in her seat she could see Desiree standing at a table in the kitchen that was the same color as smashed green peas stirring something in a bowl.  Her head hung down and hair covered her face, but every now and again her shoulders would shiver and Lily knew that she was still crying.

       “Where’s that sister of yours?” Lily heard the woman ask.

“I don’t know ma’am,” Desiree answered, never stopping stirring what was in the bowl, and never raising her head.

“Well if she ain’t here when dinner goes on the table she don’t eat. You got that?”

       “Yes ma’am,” Desiree said.

         The woman stomped back into the dining room and slammed a plate of bread down on the table without looking at Lily and sat down. 

         Desiree rushed into the room carrying a handful of silverware and three bowls in one hand, a big wooden bowl in the other. She placed them in the center of the table then turned and rushed back into the kitchen.  Moments later she returned with a large platter that held three crispy pieces of golden-brown chicken in one hand, and a smaller bowl filled with fluffy white potatoes with a large pat of butter melting in the center. She placed these carefully in front of her mother and ran back into the kitchen only to return a few seconds later with a large glass filled with ice-cold soda, and a plate that held one ear of bright yellow corn. She put these in front of her mother before shuffling to the other end of the table and sitting in the chair beside Lily.

          The lady looked at the food in front of her without saying anything for what seemed like a long time.  Finally she raised her head and looked down the table at Desiree.  She looked angry enough to spit. Lily lowered her eyes thinking again of the popping sounds the stention cord had made.

         “You expect me to eat with my hands?” she asked.

           Even though her voice stayed quiet, Lily could hear the mean in it and it made her stomach shake.  She heard Desiree suck in a breath of air through her teeth.  Lily bit down on her lip to stop herself from making even a hint of a sound.

         “No ma’am…I’m sorry…I was…”

         “Git up and get it you simple little b*****d.”

          Beside her, Desiree hopped up from her chair knocking it to the floor as she raced into the kitchen. The sound of tinkling silverware mixed with the frantic patter of Desiree’s feet drifted from the kitchen as Lily stared down at the table praying for Desiree to hurry.  The front door slamming behind her made Lily jump in her chair a squeak of surprise escaped from between her lips. 

         Slowly she raised her head and turned in her chair to see Shante standing beside the table.  Without a word she slid into the chair next to Desiree’s just as Desiree ran from the kitchen holding a fork, spoon, and butter knife in her hand. Lily could see the relief on Desiree’s face as she saw Shante.

        As Desiree put the silverware in front of her mother, her mother raised her hand and Desiree flinched away from her, tripping over her own feet and falling into the wall. For the first time Lily heard the lady laugh as Desiree stumbled away from the wall back to her seat. 

As soon as Desiree squeezed into the seat next to Lily, her mother raised both her arms to the ceiling and stared across the table at the picture of the eyeless God. All the laughter had disappeared from her voice as she looked down the table at them.

      “Let us pray,” she said.

        Desiree and Shante dropped their heads and closed their eyes as their mother stood up from the table. The lady squeezed her eyes shut and beads of sweat broke out on her forehead as she rocked back and forth and shouted a prayer of thanks.

       When she was done she sank back into her chair and wiped the sweat from her forehead before pulling the plates filled with food close. She looked down the table at the three girls and smiled. 

       “Go ahead now, feed your sisters,” she said to Desiree.

         Desiree stood up and pulled the big brown bowl from the center of the table. Picking up a big spoon, she grabbed one of the bowls and filled it with what looked like mush and passed it to Shante.  After filling the remaining two bowls she walked back to her seat. She kept one bowl for herself and put the other in front of Lily. Lily was surprised to see that it was filled with oatmeal that had grown cold and filled with lumps from sitting out for so long.

        Down at the other end of the table the lady bit into a crispy chicken leg and Lily heard her stomach growl with hunger. She picked up the spoon beside her bowl and shoveled the cold oatmeal into her mouth.

After her first meal in her new home, Lily was sent upstairs to bed alone, while Desiree and Shante cleaned up the mess from dinner. As she climbed the stairs the sound of the lady’s voice followed her, singing one of her mama’s favorite church songs.

            Lily could hear the two girls whispering together at the other end of the bed as she stared into the darkness.  Suddenly a foot was shoved hard into her stomach and soft giggles filled the darkness.  Lily’s breath rushed out in a surprised whoosh and she moved closer to the wall, pulling her knees up to her chest as she struggled not to make a noise. 

            “What’s the matter white girl? Why you crying?” a voice whispered in the dark.  “You ain’t nothing but a big baby.” 

            Lily used her hands to cover her ears and began to hum the song her old mama used to sing to her every night before she put her to bed.  As hard as she tried she couldn’t stop the tears from falling down her cheeks. She wondered why she had been sent here.  She couldn’t understand what she had done that was so wrong.  In the dark her lips moved as she silently prayed for God to send her back home, promising to always be good if he would just listen. 

            “Leave her alone Shante, all she gone do is tell daddy and he gone beat you for sure,’ Desiree warned.

            “I don’t care I hate her.  Why don’t she gone back to her own folks? We don’t need her here.”

            “You want to get beat with the stention cord?” Desiree asked.

            “I don’t care,” Shante said. 

            “Well I don’t, so stop it and go to sleep, okay?” 

              Lily felt the bed moving under her as the girls moved closer together. She listened to their voices as they whispered. Shante talked about somebody famous being her real mother, and having a perfect room filled with a big bed all her own, and every kind of toy she could think of just for her. Desiree said she would have a big room, with a big bed, and everything would be pink and pretty like a ballerina.   Lily hugged the wall until the voices drifted off into snores. When she finally fell asleep she dreamed of going home.

           

 

 

 

Reviews

[Chana]

I read Lily White with a myriad of feelings. I felt Lily's terror and her longing for her mother and her old life. I felt badly about the circumstances into which Shante and Desiree were born into, but I loved the way they remained sisters and stuck together instead of their "parents" turning them into gladiators in a coliseum. That behavior would have been understandable considering the inhumane treatment they were subjected to. My favorite part was when the girls were telling each other their dreams; they wanted simple things that all children should have; it broke my heart. I noticed that the name Desiree has desire in it; was that intentional? (SPOILER ALERT) I was only privy to one chapter of Lily White and from that I can gauge that it will be a great book that I would buy and recommend to all of my friends!

[Buddha77]

Great story, captured my attention from the initial line through the end of the material provided! Well written with some minor errors that can easily be corrected! I can't wait to find out what happens to Lilly and her sisters....I would definitely recommend this book from what I have read so far!!!

[navah74]

Thank you Buddha777 for the support it is much appreciated.

[lark1311]

Excellent writing. Look forward to reading more of this. Just a note - some grammar errors that will need to be corrected in a final write. But otherwise great.

[navah74]

Thank you Lark1311 it still needs a trip to the copy editor, but I appreciate your time.

[mabarker]

It got my attention and I have got to see this through to the end! Excellent writing! I would definitely buy this book and give it as gifts to my friends!

[narkita]

GREAT job!!! Never forget that the same confidences and determination that you put on paper is what came from you. Therefore, BELIEVE that those things are IN YOU!!! And whom ever tries to tell you different is just trying to discourage you because they are not living their dream and you are living yours!!! ;-)