Girl
by
JAMAICA KINCAID
Wash the white clothes on Monday and put them
on the stone heap; wash the color clothes on Tuesday and put them on the
clothesline to dry; don't walk barehead in the hot sun; cook pumpkin fritters
in very hot sweet oil; soak your little cloths right after you take them off;
when buying cotton to make yourself a nice blouse, be sure that it doesn't have
gum on it, because that way it won't hold up well after a wash; soak salt fish
overnight before you cook it; is it true that you sing benna' in Sunday
school?; always eat your food in such a way that it won't turn someone else's
stomach; on Sun-days try to walk like a lady and not like the slut you are so
bent on becoming; don't sing benna in Sunday school; you mustn't speak to
wharf-rat boys, not even to give directions; don't eat fruits on the street—flies
will follow you; but I don't sing benna on Sundays at all and never in Sunday
school; this is how to sew on a button; this is how to make a buttonhole for
the button you have just sewed on; this is how to hem a dress when you see the
hem coming down and so to prevent yourself from looking like the slut I know
you are so bent on becoming; this is how you iron your father's khaki shirt so
that it doesn't have a crease; this is how you iron your father's khaki pants
so that they don't have a crease; this is how you grow okra—far from the house,
because okra tree harbors red ants; when you are growing dasheen, make sure it
gets plenty of water or else it makes your throat itch when you are eating it;
this is how you sweep a corner; this is how you sweep a whole house; this is
how you sweep a yard; this is how you smile to someone you don't like too much;
this is how you smile to someone you don't like at all; this is how you smile
to someone you like completely; this is how you set a table for tea; this is how
you set a table for dinner; this is how you set a table for dinner with an
important guest; this is how you set a table for lunch; this is how you set a
table for breakfast; this is how to behave in the presence of men who don't
know you very well, and this way they won't recognize immediately the slut I
have warned you against becoming; be sure to wash every day, even if it is with
your own spit; don't squat down to play marbles—you are not a boy, you know;
don't pick people's flowers—you might catch something; don't throw stones at
blackbirds, because it might not be a blackbird at all; this is how to make a
bread pudding; this is how to make doukona2 this is how to make pepper pot;
this is how to make a good medicine for a cold; this is how to make a good
medicine to throw away a child before it even becomes a child; this is how to
catch a fish; this is how to throw back a fish you don't like, and that way
something bad won't fall on you; this is how to bully a man; this is how a man
bullies you; this is how to love a man, and if this doesn't work there are
other ways, and if they don't work don't feel too bad about giving up; this is
how to spit up in the air if you feel like it, and this is how to move quick so
that it doesn't fall on you; this is how to make ends meet; always squeeze
bread to make sure it's fresh; but what if the baker won't let me feel the
bread?; you mean to say that after all you are really going to be the kind of
woman who the baker won't let near the bread?
1983
1. Caribbean folk-music style.
2. Spicy pudding, often made from plantain and wrapped in a
plantain or banana leaf.
No comments:
Post a Comment