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Summary from the Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data: Twelve-year-old F. has to adjust when the pregnant young daughter of an old friend of her mother’s comes to stay with them. [ Afro-Americans – Fiction; Alcoholism – Fiction; Pregnancy – Fiction; Unmarried mothers —Fiction; Lesbians – Fiction]
Notes/Excerpts:
F.’s mom is telling her what happened to her friends. R. is the pregnant, fifteen-year-old daughter of her friend C. who is going to stay with F. and her mom: “ ‘When C. got pregnant, she tried to hide…it hurt M. the most…C. left and M. came out as a lesbian. We started growing apart. M. had her women and I had my men…I used to think that two people of the same sex together wasn’t right…I didn’t know that there were so many ways people loved each other. When I met M., she was a radical feminist…my mind had been closed for so long…didn’t know anything about lesbians. …C. had the hardest time with it…She doesn’t really understand that it’s not up to us to decide how people live (30).”
M. comes over and R. is talking to F.: “‘She’s a butch, right? R. whispered. I wanted to slap her. ‘No, stupid! She’s a lesbian.’ ‘Same thing,’ she hissed. … ‘Some lesbians don’t like to be called butch. Just like some pregnant people don’t like to be called pregos. Make any sense (53)?”
R. and F. are having a conversation: “ ‘This place…where a whole lot of gay people are.’ ‘There’re gay people everywhere.’ ‘Well, I’ve met more here in one day…’ ‘So you think they [lesbians M. and B.] love each other?’ ‘They love each other more than my mother and daddy. M. and B. are still together.’ ‘You ever been with a boy?’ ‘No.’ … ‘You ever been with a girl?’ (73).”
“R. laughed that grown-up laugh of hers… ‘Me and my boyfriend got bigger plans than marriage…houses and cars and picket-fence plans’ (97).”
F. asks R.: “‘Didn’t you and D.’ …I hesitated. ‘Didn’t you have any…you know…like condoms or something?’ R. shook her head again. ‘We were planning to get something. We were going to go to the free clinic…But we had taken chances before and nothing happened. I gues we thought we could just take another chance (106-107).”
“M. and B. make a nice couple (113).”
R. and F. are talking again: “‘I can’t believe B. kissed M. like that,’ R. said… ‘They always do that,’ I said. ‘You know what, F.? M. and your mom would make a nice couple…Well, they would.’ ‘They’re friends.’ ‘That’s how it starts out’ (133-134).”