The Revolution of Little Girls by Blanche McCary Boyd

Author:Blanche McCary Boyd [Boyd, Blanche McCrary]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 978-0-307-76666-3
Publisher: Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group
Published: 2011-02-02T00:00:00+00:00

I won the beauty contest that night, but I was drunk.

One of the first things I’d learned at Plaxton High was to buy little bottles of spirits of ammonia in the drugstore and mix a few drops of the liquid, which was intended only for sniffing, with Coca-Cola, if I wanted to get high and relaxed.

My bright red formal had a hoop under it. Long white gloves with tiny pearl buttons reached above my elbows. A boned corset laced tight pushed my breasts up. The tiny bottle of spirits of ammonia fit easily into the silver mesh purse my mother lent me. My shoulders were bare, and I felt like Scarlett O’Hara.

All of the contestants were wearing Gone With the Wind dresses, but mine was the boldest color.

My mother and aunt were sitting in the second row, looking at me encouragingly as I crossed the stage carrying a little cardboard square with my number—12—on it. My mother was wearing her fur coat.

My mother and aunt had arrived home while I was giving Ruby the food. “What’s happening here?” my mother had said.

Ruby was holding a brown paper grocery bag full of canned goods and a roast from the freezer, and she looked as frightened as if she’d been caught stealing.

I was acting guilty too. “Ruby was robbed. I’m giving her some food.”

My mother walked over to Ruby and peered down into the bag. When Ruby tried to hand it to her, she said, “No, you keep it if Ellen gave it to you.” But she reached inside and pulled out a can of corn. “I was going to serve this tonight.”

“I left the pork chops in the fridge,” I said from behind her. “I thought they were for supper.”

When my mother turned toward me, I wished she weren’t wearing dark glasses. She turned back to Ruby and put the can of corn back into the brown paper bag.

“Momma, should I have called the police?” I couldn’t bring myself to say what had been stolen, and, luckily, neither she nor my aunt asked.

“The sheriff wouldn’t do anything. Shouldn’t you be getting ready for tonight?”

As we went into the house I glanced down the oyster-shell road, watching Ruby’s heavy figure move down it, carrying the groceries.

“Listen, Ellen,” my mother said as soon as we were inside, “how do you know Ruby was really robbed? You’ve got to learn the facts of life. These people are like children. We’ll have Ruby up here all the time now, looking for handouts. My god, your makeup has gotten messed up. Honey, have you been crying?”

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.