I didn’t think too kindly of the world, that’s for sure. I was prone to believe I had value because I’d seen it in Papa’s eyes. And I was God’s child, too, which meant everything. That was what I believed, and because I believed it, it was hard for me to accept what little was offered to me, a girl the world only saw, as Madame had pointed out, as a little nigger girl. It didn’t seem right, not when Papa had meant for me to be more.
