Read Online The Book of Bright Ideas by Sandra Kring - Free Book Online Page B

giggled, and Aunt Verdella turned to look. She giggled too.
    â€œI mean it, you little shit, or I’ll drown you when I’m off of here!” Winnalee kept flicking water till Freeda wiped, pulled up her pants, and ran out of the room.
    â€œWhat a kid!” Freeda said, as she rolled her eyes.
    Aunt Verdella turned and caught her reflection in the chrome toaster. She started picking at her hair. “You could get by with having your hair long when you’re older, but not me. Oh, look at this frizzy mess. I’ve colored it so many times, I don’t even remember what color it was before I started!”
    While Aunt Verdella talked, I could feel Freeda staring at me. I set my half-eaten cookie down on the table and slipped my hands up over my ears—wishing my hands were as big as Uncle Rudy’s so I could cover my knotty curls too.
    â€œYou like your hair like that, Button?” Freeda asked. I could tell by the way she asked it that she wouldn’t like her hair to look like mine. Her eyes peered at me from over her coffee cup while she waited for my answer. I could feel my cheeks heat up.
    â€œI didn’t think so,” she said. She set her cup down. “I’ve seen the way you look at Winnalee’s hair. Hey, next time your ma gets out her scissors and that stupid perm kit, you just tell her, ‘Fuck it, I’m not getting my hair whacked and fried. I’m letting it grow long like Winnalee’s.’ Then run like hell.”
    Aunt Verdella gasped. “Freeda!”
    Freeda laughed and got up. She went to the stove and grabbed the percolator off it, put her finger on the glass knob on top, then tipped it sideways to refill her cup. “Ah, don’t get your butt in a bundle, Verdella. That kid ain’t gonna repeat what I just said. Look at her. She’s so uptight she can’t even say she wants a frickin’ cookie without biting half of her face off, much less how she wants to wear her hair.”
    â€œBut still…” Aunt Verdella said.
    Freeda stood up. She stared out the window that overlooked the empty field and rubbed her belly. She yawned. “Shit, I’ve gotta find a job before we die of starvation and I die of boredom.”
    â€œOh, that reminds me,” Aunt Verdella said. “Marty’s Place is almost remodeled now, honey, so you can go in and see him about that job. Reece said he’s still looking for another girl.” Aunt Verdella sighed. “You poor thing, having so much responsibility resting on your young shoulders. And with no one to count on but yourself. Maybe you’ll find a nice guy to marry right here in Dauber who’ll help lighten your load.”
    Freeda looked at Aunt Verdella and laughed. “Who says a man would lessen my load? What planet you living on, anyway? Damn, that’s the last thing I need.” She looked down at me, her green eyes lemony-colored with the sunlight shining through the sides of them. “Here’s a tip for you, kiddo. Men are good for one thing, and one thing only. And hell, you don’t even really need them for that either. Remember that.”
    Aunt Verdella glanced over at me, like I’d just heard something I shouldn’t have, but I wasn’t sure what that something was. Then she looked back at Freeda, her eyes still filled with worry. “Still, it’s gotta be rough, having so much responsibility at your age. How old are you, anyway? Twenty-one? Twenty-two?”
    â€œTwenty-five.”
    â€œWell, still, you must have been pretty young when you started carrying this load all by yourself. How long have your folks been gone now, honey?”
    â€œDaddy, about fifteen years, I guess. Ma, four.”
    â€œOh my, to lose your folks that young, and to have to raise your little sister alone.”
    â€œI’m used to being on my own,” Freeda says. “I’ve been on my own since I was sixteen years old. I don’t