At one O'Clock, Miss Celia comes in the kitchen and says she's ready for her first cooking lesson. She settles on a stool. She's wearing a tight red sweater and a red skirt and enough makeup to scare a hooker.

I was surprise to see the world didn't stop just cause my boy did.

Great books give you a feeling that you miss all day, until you finally get to crawl back inside those pages again.

Got to be the worst place in the world, inside a oven. You in here, you either cleaning or you getting cooked.

I always thought insanity would be a dark, bitter feeling, but it is drenching and delicious if you really roll around in it.

But after Mr. Evers got shot a week ago, lot a colored folk is frustrated in this town. Especially the younger ones, who ain't built up a callus yet.

Baby Girl," I say. "I need you remember everything I told you. Do you remember what I told you?" She still crying steady, but the hiccups are gone. "To wipe my bottom good when I'm done?" "No, baby, the other one. About who you are.