“I was just saying that!” Mama hit the table lightly.
My mother was capable of surprises every now and then, and she proved it that night at dinner. She asked Lydia, were there any parties that weekend? Maybe she’d been invited to something?
Lydia sat up straight. “For real? My soror Niecy is back for fall break.”
“Is she a good girl?” Mama asked. “Not any trouble, right?”
“No, ma’am. She’s real nice.”
“Okay, you can go, but you gotta take your sister along, so she can chaperone.”
“What?” Coco asked. “I don’t want to go. I don’t even know those people.”
“Getting out will do you good,” Mama said.
“I am out,” Coco said. “I’m here. Why I gotta go someplace else?”
“Because you’re almost twenty and you don’t need to be stuck in the house. Just look out for your sister, please.”
That evening, I followed Lydia around as she prepared for the party. I’d only seen her dolled up for church in Chicasetta, and even then the outfit she wore was modest. Miss Rose didn’t go in for flesh on the Lord’s day. The orange dress that Lydia chose for the party stopped well above her knees and clung to her narrow waist, wide hips, and plump backside. Mama liked to say Lydia might have gotten her skin color and hair from the white folks, but anybody with sense could look at that ass and know there was a Negro in the woodpile.
Lydia put a socked foot into a long, black boot and zipped it up her leg.
“I want to go. I could wear something real cute, too.”
“You wouldn’t have to dress up. You’re gorgeous all by yourself.” She zipped up the other boot and held out her arms. “Come here.”
“No. I’m very mad at you.”
“It’s not my fault, baby. You know Mama isn’t letting you go to a college party. Now stop being mean and come here.”
She wiggled her fingers and I moved into her arms. She smelled nice but foreign. Not a soapy girl anymore, but a woman. She walked to the hall, and I followed. Coco was waiting for her at the foot of the stairs, wearing the same jeans and Yale sweatshirt she’d been wearing that morning. I suspected the gold hoop earrings and red lipstick were a concession to Mama.
I went back to the bedroom and pulled out The Color Purple from the bookshelf. It was my turn to read that evening, and I’d been practicing the character’s voices. Celie’s tone would be high and trembling, but after she found her strength and purpose, her voice would deepen. And Mister would be a nasty bass, like the low-down scoundrel he was. I sat on the couch, reading The Color Purple until they returned. Neither one seemed to notice me, though, and at breakfast time, Lydia didn’t rise early as she usually did. When I came down for breakfast, Coco’s bag was sitting at the bottom of the stairs. In the kitchen, Mama tried to get her to take a later bus, but Coco told her she needed some rest before classes in eight days. Her manner was brusque when Mama asked her, how was the party? Did they have a good time? In a few minutes, her taxi honked outside. A quick squeeze around Mama’s waist and a kiss on the cheek, and Coco was gone.
*
“What did I do?” I asked.
“Nothing, baby. I just need my space.”
Lydia was in our closet, her voice muffled. She hugged an armful of hanging clothes, lifted them, and freed the tops of the hangers from the closet pole. She huffed under their weight and walked down the hall into our sister’s room.
I followed behind her.
“But you didn’t need it before. And Coco needs her room for when she comes back.”
“She’s not coming back. She’s going to medical school next year. She’ll probably get an apartment.”
“But what about the holidays?”
“I’ll sleep in your room, like always. Don’t you want your privacy?”
I didn’t answer, and she walked back into the bedroom that we’d shared only the night before. The one that wasn’t our room anymore. It was only mine. She pulled more clothes from the closet until her side was empty.
“Okay, I think that’s it. I’m tuckered out. I think I’ll sleep through dinner.”
“It’s Wednesday. Dynasty’s on tonight.”
“I’m sorry, baby, I can’t. I have to study. Tape it for me? We’ll watch another time.”
She nudged me out the door of Coco’s room, and then closed the door in my face. I heard the click of the doorknob locking.