The Darkest Child

by Delores Phillips

The house still mourned her absence. It had taken on a coldness that no amount of coal or kindling in the stoves or fireplace could penetrate. Life seemed to have drifted out through the chimney in gray whiffs of smoke. And yet, for some reason, we continued to exist.

“There ain’t nothing ugly ’bout you, not that I can see anyway. You ’bout the prettiest little dark-skin girl I ever seen.

“The best way to get them is through education,” Junior countered. “What good are laws that cannot be read or understood, or a tongue that spews only hatred and ignorance? What good is the written word to an illiterate man?”