The Weight of Blood by Tiffany D. Jackson

Author:Tiffany D. Jackson
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: HarperCollins
Published: 2022-07-22T00:00:00+00:00

Twelve

May 26, 2014

PAPA SAT IN his recliner, watching The Beverly Hillbillies, chuckling at their antics while Maddy finished dinner. She made something extra special, hoping to soften him, make him more malleable to the conversation that she intended to have. Pork chops in a cranberry glaze, Brussels sprouts, mashed potatoes, and a key lime pie for dessert.

I am powerful, she thought. I have power now. He can’t take it away from me.

But her mouth went dry at just the thought.

“Dinner’s ready,” Maddy announced, lighting the stick candles on the center candelabra. Papa sauntered into the dining room, inspecting the setting. When satisfied, he nodded and sat at the head of the table. Maddy took her seat beside him. Papa prayed over their food for almost five minutes before ending with an amen. Maddy dutifully fixed his plate.

“So. Madison,” he said, cutting into his chop. “What did you think of North by Northwest?”

Papa always asked her about movies as if she had never seen them before, as if they hadn’t watched them too many times to not remember.

“It was wonderful, Papa.”

“Ah yes. Cary Grant. Wasn’t he terrific? He had done four movies with Alfred Hitchcock. And Hitchcock was very selective about his cast. Pushed them all to impossible limits. They say there were all these problems on set. But what I think was . . .”

Maddy poked at her sprouts, her appetite nonexistent. Heart racing, she pretended to be enthralled with Papa’s meandering thoughts, agreeing at the appropriate times. When he broke to take a bite of his pork, she took a deep, steadying breath.

“Papa, I was invited to a dance.”

Papa’s fork hovered in the air, right at his mouth. He stared at the empty seat on the other side of the table. Maddy could feel the air tense. She pressed on with a gulp.

“It’s the prom. His name is Kendrick Scott. He plays football and is going to college. A really good college, on a full sports scholarship. He’s going to study English and likes to read.”

Papa gently set his fork down, wiping the corner of his mouth with his cloth napkin. Her heart plunged into her stomach with a shudder.

“He’s from a nice family, and I—”

It happened so fast she didn’t have a chance to shriek. Papa backhanded her across the face, his rough knuckles connecting with her cheekbone. Maddy’s chair tipped, dumping her out on the floor. She rolled onto her side with a whimper, tasting the blood on her lip.

Papa stood over her, fist rolled into a ball. “You are having lustful thoughts for some Negro.”

Maddy scuttled away from him, one-handed. How did he know Kendrick was Black?

“No, Papa, I—”

“I’ll be damned if you go anywhere with some Negro!”

How did he know? she thought through her panic as she tried to regain control.

“Papa . . . can we please talk about this? Please!”

“Go to your closet.”

Trembling, Maddy shook her head. “No, Papa.”

He slapped her again and she screamed.

“Go to your closet now!”

Her eyeballs twitched. No, not yet. No.

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