The Darkest Child

by Delores Phillips

Loss traveled through my body, pulsed at my temples, and numbed my fingertips.

I loved her with all my heart, but if she did not die by Monday morning, I was determined to discover from the pages of my schoolbooks, how to break the chains that bound me to my mother.

We would be smart, beautiful, and white, and Mama would love us with all of her heart.

“I don’t leave for the same reason you don’t. I can’t.”

“Tan, you don’t read them books all the time no mo’. How come?” “They made me dream.”