Coffee Will Make You Black by April Sinclair Page B

and them white pants?” Carla answered.
    â€œYeah, who could forget Peaches,” I heard Linda agree.
    I headed for the nurse’s office. I wondered how come I didn’t remember Peaches and them white pants.
    The nurse, Mrs. O’Malley, had taken care of everything. She’d given me a brand-new elastic belt and shown me how to tie the ends of a Kotex pad to it and which side to use. She’d told me I could expect to bleed three to five days every month. If I got cramps, I could come to the sick room and lie down with the hot-water bottle. The nurse was a cross between Mrs. Santa Claus and Hazel, the maid on TV.
    I marched into Mrs. Cunningham’s room with a pass and a little booklet that said I had become a woman and was part of the mystery of life and stuff like that. I didn’t hide the booklet or shove it up in people’s faces. I just held it so anybody could see it if they had a mind to. Mrs. Cunningham took the pass without smiling or frowning. I tried to walk normal with this bulky thing that seemed to have a mind of its own in between my legs. I looked for Carla, and she gave me her dimpled smile. I felt proud as I took my seat, no matter what Mama said.
    â€œYou don’t need me to tell you anything, it sounds like the nurse told you everything.” Mama sounded like she was relieved.
    We were in the kitchen and she was about to fry the pork chops. I was mashing the potatoes.
    â€œOh, that blue box in the bathroom cabinet is where the Kotex are. Let me know if we run low.”
    I nodded. “Mama, are you gonna tell Daddy?”
    â€œNo, he doesn’t need to know about this.”
    â€œWhat about Grandma?”
    â€œI might mention it to her, but it won’t be the first thing that comes out of my mouth.”
    â€œOh.”
    I wanted to hear about the juicy stuff. Mama had never really sat me down and told me the facts.
    â€œMama, what happens when your love comes down?”
    Mama dropped a pork chop into the hot skillet and jumped away as it splattered.
    â€œWhat are you talking about, Jean Eloise?”
    â€œSomebody said that her love came down. What does that mean?”
    I added a little more milk to the potatoes.
    â€œWho said some mess like that? I bet it was that Carla Perkins, wasn’t it?” Mama wrinkled her forehead.
    â€œIt wasn’t Carla.”
    â€œI bet she was there, I bet she had something to do with it!”
    â€œWell, what does it mean, Mama?”
    Mama turned a pork chop over with the long fork.
    â€œIt means that whoever said it has her mind in the gutter, that’s what it means. The devil is everywhere these days. Well, I won’t have you talking that trash in my house. Whoever said it, you need to stay away from her. You need to stay away from that whole Carla Perkins crowd.”
    I would just have to find out stuff from other people. Mama wasn’t getting up off of nothing, I thought. Besides, Carla’s birthday was less than two weeks away and I didn’t want to push Mama now. I knew I had to lay low for a while.
    We were in the coatroom getting our sweaters and stuff for morning recess. I reached for the jump rope hanging from my hook.
    â€œForget it, Stevie, we ain’t jumping today,” Carla said.
    â€œHow come? It’s not raining, the ground’s not even wet from last night.”
    â€œJust be cool, Stevie, just be cool. We ain’t jumping today, okay? Just follow me.”
    I followed Carla into the auditorium, which didn’t make sense to me, because we were supposed to be on the playground during recess.
    â€œCarla, we’re not supposed to be in here. What are we going to do in an empty auditorium? What if we get in trouble?”
    â€œI told you to just be cool, you’ll see.”
    I followed Carla past the rows of empty seats to the back. I could hear giggling. I was surprised to find Tanya and Patrice all hunched over a book.
    â€œHere, Stevie,