Delphine is flying with her younger sisters, Vonetta and Fern, from New York to Oakland, California. The children are going to see their mother, Cecile, who had abandoned them many years earlier. Big Ma, their father's mother, objects to the trip, calling Oakland "a boiling pot of trouble cooking" that summer of 1968, but Pa has been firm, asserting that the children "need to know their mother, and she needs to know them."
At eleven years old, Delphine has always had to "see after [her] sisters," who are nine and seven. She takes her responsibilities seriously and makes sure that Vonetta and Fern behave decorously on the trip, so as not to be "an embarrassment to the Negro race." Although the girls are understandably apprehensive about meeting their mother, they are very excited about going to Oakland. Oakland is in California, which to them means Hollywood and Disneyland.
When the children arrive at their destination, nobody rushes over to claim them. Delphine looks around the terminal and sees a tall woman standing to the side, apparently trying to decide whether to come forward or not. Delphine remembers enough to know that the woman is their mother, and when the stewardess takes the children over, the woman impassively admits that they belong to her. She then strides away, abruptly ordering the girls to follow her. It is …show more content…
She curtly tells them that there is a daybed in the back room, which "should be enough" for them. They were thinking that when they got there it would be a nice place,but when they got there the place was covered in peaks of hard green frosting. The little girl thought that when they walk in they were expecting to see writing on the walls.When Vonetta and Fern excitedly ask about a television and Disneyland, she laughs incredulously and declares:I didn't send for you. Didn't want you in the first place. Should have gone to Mexico to get rid of you when I had the
At eleven years old, Delphine has always had to "see after [her] sisters," who are nine and seven. She takes her responsibilities seriously and makes sure that Vonetta and Fern behave decorously on the trip, so as not to be "an embarrassment to the Negro race." Although the girls are understandably apprehensive about meeting their mother, they are very excited about going to Oakland. Oakland is in California, which to them means Hollywood and Disneyland.
When the children arrive at their destination, nobody rushes over to claim them. Delphine looks around the terminal and sees a tall woman standing to the side, apparently trying to decide whether to come forward or not. Delphine remembers enough to know that the woman is their mother, and when the stewardess takes the children over, the woman impassively admits that they belong to her. She then strides away, abruptly ordering the girls to follow her. It is …show more content…
She curtly tells them that there is a daybed in the back room, which "should be enough" for them. They were thinking that when they got there it would be a nice place,but when they got there the place was covered in peaks of hard green frosting. The little girl thought that when they walk in they were expecting to see writing on the walls.When Vonetta and Fern excitedly ask about a television and Disneyland, she laughs incredulously and declares:I didn't send for you. Didn't want you in the first place. Should have gone to Mexico to get rid of you when I had the