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The color purple: Alice Walker: Chapter 1 |
Then he
grabbed hold of my titties. Then he pushes his thing inside my pussy. When that hurts, I
cry. He starts to choke me, saying You better shut up and get used to it. But I
don’t ever get used to it. And now I feel sick every time I am the one to
cook. My mama, she fusses at me and looks at me. She is happy, cause he is good to her
now. But too sick to last long.
She got sicker and sicker. Finally, she asked
Where it is? I say God took it. He took it. He took it while I was sleeping.
Kilt it out there in the woods. Kill this one too, if he can.
He acts
like he can’t stand me anymore. Say I’m evil and always up to no good. He took
my other little baby, a boy this time. But I don’t think he kilts it. I think he
sold it to a man and his wife over Monticello.
He comes
home with a girl from around Gray. She is my age but they are married. He is on her
all the time. She walks around like she doesn’t know what hit her. I think she
thought she loves him. But he got so many of us. All need something. My little
sister Nettie is got a boyfriend in the same shape almost as Pa. His wife died.
She was
kilt by her boyfriend coming home from church. He got only three children
though. He has seen Nettie in church and now every Sunday evening here comes Mr.
_____. I tell Nettie to keep her books. It is more than a notion taking care
of children ain’t even yours. And look what happens to Ma.
Mr. __ finally, comes right out and asks for Nettie's hand in marriage. But He won’t let her go. He says she is too young and has no experience. Say Mr. __ got too many children already. Plus What about the scandal his wife causes when somebody kills her? And what about all this stuff he hears bout Shug Avery? What bout that? I asked our new mammy bout, Shug Avery. What it is? I asked. She doesn’t know but she says she gon find out.
She does more than that. She got a picture. The
first one of a real person I have ever seen. She says Mr. _ was taking something
out of his billfold to show Pa and it fell out and slid under the table. Shug Avery
was a woman. The most beautiful woman I saw. She is more pretty than my mama.
She is bout ten thousand times prettier than me. I see her there in furs. Her
face rouged. Her hair is like something tail. She grinned with her foot up on
somebody's motorcar. Her eyes are serious tho. Sad some. I asked her to give me the
picture. All night long I stare at it. And now when I dream, I dream of Shug
Avery. She is dressed to kill, whirling and laughing.
I asked him
to take me instead of Nettie while our new mammy is sick. But he just asked me what
I’m talking bout. I tell him I can fix myself up for him. I duck into my room
and come out wearing horsehair, feathers, and a pair of our new mammy high heel
shoes. He beat me for dressing trampy but he does it to me anyway.
Mr. __ come that evening. I’m in the bed crying. Nettie finally sees the light of day, clear. Our new mammy sees it too. She is in her room crying. Nettie tends to first one, then the other. She was so scared she goes outdoors and vomit. But not out front where the two men are. Mr. __ says, Well Sir, I sure hope you do change your mind. He says, Naw, Can’t say I am. Mr. __ say, Well, you know, my poor little ones sure could use a mother. Well, He says, real slow, I can’t let you have Nettie. She is too young. Don’t know anything but what you tell her. Side, I want her to get some more schooling. Make a schoolteacher out of her. But I can let you have Celie.
She is the
oldest anyway. She ought to marry first. She ain’t fresh tho, but I spect you
know that. She spoiled. Twice. But you don’t need a fresh woman no how. I got a
fresh one in there myself and she was sick all the time. He spits, over the railing.
The children get on her nerve, she is not much of a cook. And she is big already.
Mr. __
finally, speaks. Clearing his throat. I ain’t never really look at that one, he
says. Well, next time you come you can look at her. She is ugly. Don’t even look
like she kin to Nettie. But she’ll make the better wife. She ain’t smart
either, and I’ll just be fair, you have to watch her, or she’ll give away everything
you own. But she can work like a man. Mr. _____ says How old she is? He says She is near twenty. And another thing—She tells lies.
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Amazing chapter
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