My Sister

My sister wasn't pretty
She had begging eyes
She wore tacky jewelry
And her chin always went out
Like it was looking for something

Mama put the pretty dress on me
On me

The black straps
Remind you
To hold up your back
So you look tall
And sleek

Mama made my sister
Do my nails
And fix my hair

Because my sister could hold beauty
So long as she remembered
To give it away quick

The night Mama put the black dress on me
My sister gave me her necklace
And I tossed it off

Let the stones hit the cement
On our front walk

I don't like being mean to my sister
But my Mama says you can't be nice to the weak
'Cause it just makes them weaker

So the little green stones went everywhere
And I said, Why do I want your ugly necklace for, huh?

Then I look at Mama
And Mama's smiling
Like I sold a good idea
Or something

Then we went off
Because Mama comes with me
When we go out

She likes seeing the men that hang out
At the bar
And she introduces them to me
Like I'm her sister

Sometimes she makes me get up
Near the pool table
In the brown square
They call the dance floor
And dance around
Even though the black straps fall
And sometimes the men playing pool
Stop and walk around me
Like we're going to tango or something
And I feel their eyes on me
Like July bugs
Ready to bite

The night I threw the necklace down
My Mama was laughing at the bar
Telling a story to some of the men
When one grabbed me
And Mama got mad

It was the man she liked
And when he put his breath
On my neck
She grabbed me by the throat
And threw me down
Like I threw down that necklace

Called me a slut
She can't take nowhere
Even though she's the one
Who dressed me up

And the men just laughed
Just laughed and laughed

That was when the door opened
And my sister walked in

Wearing this orange dress
I'd never seen before
With a little pumpkin ring on her finger
And glitter down her face
Like she was a fairy or something

And that green necklace
Down across her neck
Looking as good as new

The men all stopped
And a few let out a whistle
But my sister just walked by them
Up to me
Held out her hand
And pulled me up

Pulled me up and out
Because next thing I know
I'm at the door
And there's a cab running

My sister takes the necklace off
And puts it on me

Here, she says, I want you to keep it this time

Then she shuts the door
And I get in the cab
And go home

When she brings Mama home
Mama's got a black eye
And bruises on her legs

She's slapping at my sister
Like she's done something wrong
And when I ask what happened
I get a slap too

Then Mama goes in her room
And shuts the door

I'm going out with her from now on, my sister says
And before I can say that I like wearing the black dress
And I like getting my nails done
And sometimes I even like how the men circle around
I see the rip going up my sister's dress
And I see the specks in her eyes
And I keep my mouth shut
And go back to watching tv
And playing with the stones in the necklace
Feeling them go warm and cool

I never went out again with my Mama and my sister
But one night they didn't come back
And when I went looking for them
The bar was shut up, and there was yellow tape

Some of the men circled around a few too many times
And my sister did what she had to do
And my Mama stuck to her men
And nobody made it out alive

I went to live with my aunt
And when she'd talk about my Mama and my sister and me
She'd say we were a family of sluts
And she'd say it the same way my Mama did
That night at the club

And in my head I'd think--

No, not all of us

And then I'd go back to watching tv
Back to playing with the necklace
Back to wondering why the stones go warm to cool
Cool to warm, sometimes too warm to touch

And I remember the pumpkin ring
On my sister's finger
The night she showed up at the bar

And I wonder
What happened to it

And I remember how pretty
She looked that night