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and Gemma and I went upstairs early. After seeing her to bed, I crawled into my pajamas, but I couldn’t think of sleeping yet, so I headed downstairs for some milk. My parents were on the porch, and I could hear their voices floating in through the open windows.
    “You can’t be thinkin’ right, Harley,” Momma was saying, her voice barely above a whisper. “There ain’t no way that would work. There just ain’t no way.”
    “The girl ain’t got no one else. She done lost everythin’.”
    “She has to have some family somewhere.”
    I made my way to the stool that sat in front of the den window and peeked over the sill to spy on them. I could see Momma walking back and forth in her bare feet, her arms tightly folded against the chilly evening breeze.
    “She ain’t got no one, I’m tellin’ you,” my daddy said. “I promised Joe Teague I’d look out for his girl if somethin’ ever happened.”
    Momma stooped down in front of the chair where my daddy sat and looked up at him. “You’ve got to understand. There won’t be no gettin’ by for us if we do this. People will talk.”
    “I don’t care about what those people say, Sadie.” Daddy took my momma’s hands in his and leaned forward to get his face closer to hers. “You know I ain’t never cared about people’s idle talk. Never have. I ain’t gonna start now.”
    “It just . . . ain’t . . . done!” Momma said almost desperately.
    “Just because something ain’t done don’t mean it shouldn’t be.”
    Momma stood and started to pace again. “You’d best think about your family,” she said, sounding angry now. “You’d best think about your daughter.”
    “Jessilyn loves Gemma. She’d take her as a sister; you know that.”
    “But what will other children say? Buddy Pernell almost killed Jessilyn the other day. What do you think those boys might do if they find out she’s got a colored girl livin’ with her?” Momma whispered those last words like she knew someone was eavesdropping.
    “Jessilyn can take care of herself. She’s always been on Gemma’s side. She won’t care if she gets ribbin’ from them boys.”
    “I ain’t talkin’ about ribbin’. There’s violence from people about mixin’ colors.”
    Daddy seemed like he’d had enough talking, and he sighed loudly before walking over to my momma, taking her little face in his big hands. “Sadie, I told that man I’d watch out for his daughter if anythin’ happened. We’re as close to family as she’s got.” He looked at her steadily and with a voice full of firm decision said, “The girl’s stayin’.”
    Momma backed away from him. “Then let it be on your head what happens for it, Harley Lassiter. If unhappy times come to this family through your decision, I’ll not take the blame for it.”
    “Sadie, I never asked you to take the blame. I ain’t never asked you to take the blame for none of my decisions.”
    Momma stood looking at him for about a minute before she marched to the door and into the house.
    I bolted up the stairs quick as a hare, making sure to jump over the creaky step near the top, just before Momma let the door slam behind her.
    I didn’t sleep much that night. All I could think about was why my momma wouldn’t want Gemma staying with us. Ever since the tragedy, I had assumed that she would stay and be part of our family. I’d never met another soul who claimed to be kin to her, and she’d been living on our farm for as long as I could remember. I couldn’t see any reason why she should leave.
    Now, I knew that there had always been certain ideas about colored people and white people mixing. Not one colored person went to my church or my school, and Phil the barber had a sign in his window that said Whites Only. I knew all about some people not wanting to be friends with other people just because of the color of their skin. My momma and daddy had told me about that when I started asking questions. But Momma had always agreed