Read Online Because We Are by Mildred Pitts; Walter - Free Book Online

might not come,” Melanie said.
    â€œWhy would you think that?” Emma asked.
    â€œâ€™Cause, we wanted you to come so badly. We miss you, girl,” Linda called out.
    â€œYeah, things ain’t what they used to be at Marlborough since you left,” Cheryl said.
    â€œWe don’t know what’s going down. The crackers are in complete control.” Everybody laughed at Dee’s words.
    â€œThey always were,” Emma stated matter-of-factly.
    â€œNo, now, Em. At least you were our representative. We have nobody now,” Diane said.
    â€œAnd, girl, the white chicks are just taking Marvin over.” Melanie’s voice had a tinge of anger.
    â€œAnd who else?” Emma asked. She didn’t want the conversation centered around Marvin and his women. Did they know about Kali? She hoped not.
    â€œAnybody they think have potential. It’s disgusting.” Quiet Melanie was letting her anger show.
    Emma said nothing, hoping the conversation would die. She didn’t want to get into that black-man-white-woman thing.
    â€œMaybe they think they’re doing us a favor,” Cheryl said. Emma then knew that the topic would have to run its course.
    â€œA favor?” they all cried.
    â€œIf that’s a favor, heaven help us if they ever decide to do us in.” Dee shrugged and sighed deeply.
    â€œDee?” Cheryl asked. “You remember that book we read about the white chick who took a Black dude from a sister? Emma, you read it, too.”
    Emma remembered having read the book and how it had angered and hurt her. She didn’t want to talk about it.
    â€œThis chick in the book thought she was doing Blacks a favor. And, of course, you know what kind of dude he was,” Cheryl said.
    â€œHad to be good looking,” Linda blurted out.
    â€œA great basketball, football, and soccer player rolled in one,” Melanie added.
    â€œAnd a brain, etcetera, etcetera, etcetera,” Diane said.
    â€œWait, wait,” Dee shouted. “This dude was all that, plus he was a black Black with blue eyes, yet.” They all cracked up.
    â€œYou guys making that up,” Tanya said.
    â€œUn-unh!” Dee cried. “And don’t laugh, this is serious. The chick who took the dude said she did it because we didn’t know how to be feminine and how to treat our men: We go out and get all the jobs, take care of the family, and make our men lean on us. Our men need somebody to lean on them so that they can prove their manhood.”
    Emma remembered how confused she had been when she read that part of the book. She had wondered at that time if her mother was to blame for her father marrying Jody. But since then she had learned to ask other questions. Had her mother not worked then to help her father, would Jody be able to lean on him now? She wished they would talk about something else.
    â€œI thought you lean on your father,” Diane said. “I want to be a partner, working together on equal footing with my husband. I ain’t looking for no father in my man. But what I want to know is, what did the sister do, Cheryl?”
    â€œThe sister freaked out—quit a library job to wait tables—”
    â€œWorse than that, she quit school over that dude,” Dee interrupted.
    â€œAnd some other sisters did a stupid thing, too. They cut off the chick’s hair,” Cheryl continued.
    â€œSounds like that writer put us down,” Melanie said. “They wouldn’t cut hair . Hair will grow back. They would’ve branded her for good.” There was a burst of laughter.
    The laughing was contagious so Emma laughed, too; but she was thinking about Kali and Marvin, Jody and her mother, Manning and Marlborough. She knew she was caught in a whirl of color that never ceased. She wanted to do something to stop the talk, but she didn’t know what to do. She was the only one there whose father was married to a white woman; and it was