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wearing the same clothes for days,” said Lil Ma.
    â€œI wonder why,” said Grandmother, without a hint of a question in her voice. “She’s got her own people, Adelaine.”
    Lil Ma took a breath and said in a tone sharper than any Cassie had ever heard her use with Grandmother. “This is a test from the Lord. And it isn’t just a test for me .”
    Cassie’s fingers stopped above the bleach water. Grandmother whirled around and pointed at Armenia Sutter’s wedding dress. “You get that stain out. Don’t you go back there with that white girl until it’s done.”
    Cassie opened her mouth to say yessum . No sound came out. Grandmother turned around again, but Lil Ma was taking down her coat and scarf from the hook behind the counter. She tied the scarf under her chin without looking at Grandmother. Her hands were shaking.
    â€œWe’re out of onions,” Lil Ma said. She fastened the buttons on her coat and went out into the rain.
    The door slammed behind her. Grandmother picked up a bag of laundry, dumped it on the table, and began dividing it into lights and darks.
    Cassie dipped her fingers in the bleach water and rubbed the stain. She could sense Judith in the kitchen moving as quietly as possible, pouring hot water for tea. After a while, Judith seemed to be still, probably sitting at the table. Soon she would put her head down and sleep. Grandmother seemed to be listening too. It was quiet in the kitchen when she finished sorting and came over to examine the stain on the wedding dress.
    â€œBetter,” she said, “but not done.”
    â€œYessum.” Cassie kept her eyes down, dabbing at the stain.
    â€œShe’s pregnant, you know,” said Grandmother. “That white girl.”
    â€œI didn’t know,” said Cassie.
    â€œIt’s hard at that age,” Grandmother said. “To keep it from happening. There’s a feeling she got, and she couldn’t fight it. All girls get that feeling. It’s as strong as it is in boys, though people try to pretend it isn’t.”
    Cassie thought of Judith’s face, her parted lips, when they’d gone upstairs at the Wivells’ and the albino had been playing music, which they could both feel as a vibration through the floor.
    â€œI felt it at your age.” Grandmother dipped her fingers in the bleach water. “It’s strong in our family, especially in the women. Have you had that feeling?” asked Grandmother. “Have you felt it around the boys?”
    The only boy she’d been around lately was the albino boy.
    Grandmother took Cassie’s chin, turned it toward her, and put both hands on Cassie’s cheeks. “You feel it here first. In your face. A heat that comes from deep underneath your skin. Have you felt it?”
    â€œNome,” whispered Cassie.
    â€œYou will,” said Grandmother, “and soon. Then the heat comes down here.” She touched Cassie’s chest, over her heart. “And then lower. And that’s when that little white girl quit fighting it.”
    Cassie’s cheeks felt flushed. Her chest felt tight and strange. “I’ll fight it,” she whispered.
    â€œYou can certainly try.” Grandmother took her hands away. “I’ll be upstairs,” she said. “Don’t disturb me.”
    Grandmother walked through the small kitchen, past Judith. Cassie heard Grandmother’s footsteps on the stairs. The bed creaked as Grandmother lay down. Cassie watched the street outside, waiting for Lil Ma to come back, but the rain stopped instead. When she was sure the wine stain in the wedding dress was less than a shadow, she went into the kitchen. Judith was asleep with her head down on the table, her breathing a quiet, raw snore. If she’d made herself a cup of tea, she’d finished it, washed the cup, dried it, and put it back on its shelf.
    â€œJudith,” said Cassie.
    Judith