Member-only story
Ever Since I Was a Little Girl
By Aissa Martell
The first to arrive is Julia, I know her, she wears bright red lipstick and her hair is the color of the night sky. She looks like a porcelain doll, like the ones in the glass cabinets at my friend Beth’s house. One that will never crack is what my mom says. Julia comes from what my mother calls hill billies. I don’t know what those are but Julia sometimes talks real slow, and her words have a funny accent. One night after a couple of glasses of the bitter juice my mom always serves, she said, “I ahm a prohhhper Holly go Lightly, I left my sweet country huusband for the bright lights of the big city, Ghabby.”
My mom’s name is Gabrielle, I learned this on my sixth birthday, before then she was only my mom, the woman the woman who sings me lullabies and braids my hair. Now at the ripe age of nine I am more mature, I have responsibilities, I feel proud as I refill Julia’s glass of bitter juice.
The next to Arrive is my babysitter Lydia. My mom and Lydia have been friends since they were my age. They grew up across the street from one another on the Lower East Side. “Hola nina.” She greets me with a kiss after I reach out a plastic cup of bitter juice to her. “I see you’ve broken out the fine china Gabriella.” She says.
“Delilah insists on joining us tonight, so she has a job to do.” My mother shouts from the kitchen as she…
