"No one ever called a take-back "eating crispy fried chicken". They called is "eating crow", and with good reason. Not that I'd actually eaten a black crow, but with my words stuck in my throat and my eyes cast down, I knew what eating crow was."
What a wonderful read this book is! The story of three sisters and their journey to visit their mother in Oakland, California for the summer of 1968. Their father has decided that it's time for the Gaither sisters to get to know their absent mother. So, he puts them on a plane and sends them west. They are not welcomed with any great display of longing or love. Instead, Cecile greets them with disdain and a constant reminder that they are intruding on her way of life.
The sisters...Delphine, Vonetta and Fern...are amazing, well-drawn characters who put on a public face of support and love, despite their differences and quarrels. Delphine has been charged with caring for her younger sisters and she tries to do her best job. It is not always appreciated.
Oakland in 1968 is a hotbed of racial unrest. The author provides a setting that sparkles with signs of the times that are changing. The girls are very aware of the strides being made for the African-American people. It is evident in the way they watch TV: "Each week, Jet magazine pointed out all the shows with colored people. My sisters and I became expert colored counters. We had it down to a science. Not only did we count how many colored people were on TV, we also counted the number of words the actors were given to say. For instance, it was easy to count the number of words the Negro engineer on Mission Impossible spoke as well as the black POW on Hogan's Heroes."
Cecile is not really 'mother material' when the girls first arrive. She is involved with the Black Panthers, printing their pamphlets and caught up in the hysteria that follows this militant group. She is a poet, who bans her daughters from her kitchen area. The kitchen is her workspace and no one is welcome. It takes courage and strength for Delphine to insist that she will use the kitchen to cook appropriate meals for her sisters. From then on, she and her mother establish a bit of a truce in terms of space. There comes a time when Cecile seeks help from her oldest daughter with her work.
Each morning the girls go to the People's Center for breakfast and then stay for the day's activities, learning about the Black Panthers, their mandate and helping to prepare for a rally in their community. Delphine worries that their presence may put them in danger and she tries to distance them from certain activities. She is angry that she must be the caregiver, always worrying about and looking out for her sisters while their mother does little to parent. Delphine is the mother-child and she finally has her say:
"I'm only eleven years old, and I do everything. I have to because you're not there to do it. I'm only eleven years old, but I do the best I can. I don't just up and leave."
It surely isn't hugs, kisses and Disneyland; but, the girls do come to an understanding of their mother, her reasons for leaving them and eventually establish a bond with Cecile during their summer away from home:
"How do you fly three thousand miles to meet the mother you hadn't seen since you needed her milk, needed to be picked up, or were four going on five, and not throw your arms around her, whether she wanted you to or not? Neither Vonette, Fern nor I could answer that one. We weren't about to leave Oakland without getting what we'd come for. It only took Fern to know we needed a hug from our mother."
. These are characters to love and I hope to meet them again.
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