You Don't Know Everything, Jilly P! by Alex Gino

Author:Alex Gino [Gino, Alex]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Scholastic Inc.
Published: 2018-10-15T00:00:00+00:00

Aunt Alicia and I aren’t the only ones still talking about Thanksgiving, because on Thursday, Aunt Joanne shows up with Shandong to have a conversation with Mom and Dad. They tell me to make a plate and then send me off to their room to use the big TV. They make it sound like a special privilege, but I know it’s because they want to talk without me. With the TV surround sound, it’s almost impossible to hear through the door.

Almost, but not completely. I can’t hear very much when the TV is on, and if I leave the TV off for too long, someone will notice. But if I press the mute button for a second or two at a time, it just sounds like a break between scenes or commercials. And if I sit by the door, that’s enough to figure out right away that they’re talking about Thanksgiving.

I start watching a show about a teenage mayor of a small town and her zany group of friends who are always crashing her office. I give Mom, Dad, and Aunt Joanne a minute to get into the conversation and then I press mute to catch some details.

“… it really hurt her that none of the three of us confronted him,” says Aunt Joanne. She must be talking about Aunt Alicia and Uncle Mike. “And I’m just as guilty as you. I let it slide because it was Thanksgiving.”

“Your mom said something to him,” says Dad.

“She was worried about a scene. She didn’t care about what Mike was saying.”

Aunt Joanne is right. If Aunt Alicia wasn’t there, I don’t think Gram would have stopped Uncle Mike. I turn the sound back on and leave it on for a few sentences so no one in the kitchen gets suspicious. The scene on the TV ends and I catch a snippet before the commercials start.

“You know how Mike is,” says Mom.

“That’s no excuse,” says Aunt Joanne. “And it’s not limited to him.”

It’s not just Uncle Mike talking about Grandpa Julian scaring teenagers and not being able to tell Black people apart. It’s also Gram’s comment about the sweet potato pie—the way she expected Aunt Alicia to make a pie for her, just because Aunt Alicia is Black. And Aunt Lou’s comment about Jamila’s hair. She didn’t say that she doesn’t like the way Jamila’s hair looks when it’s loose, but it sure sounded like she was thinking it. And those are only the things I noticed. I wonder how far it goes.

I press mute again as a mom talks about a cereal she and her kid can agree on.

“… sweet potato pie,” says Mom.

“I know, you meant well by offering to make it,” says Aunt Joanne. “But we can’t just sweep racism under the rug like that, not if we want it to get any better.”

I turn the sound back on, but the next line from Aunt Joanne is clear even over the TV.

“Of course it’s uncomfortable!”

I press mute again. I need to hear what comes next.

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