Saturday Afternoon
July 1, 1961
- You might want to pack a snack for this chapter, because there's all kinds of amazing sounding food in it. Consider yourself warned, Shmooper.
- Abby and the kids in Ponca City play in the yards, and today Abby is playing with her best friend, Lily Norene, as Patience does chores and sets the girls up to make peach ice cream. (See? Deliciousness.)
- Lily Norene complains to Patience that Abby won't let her have her turn, and Patience gentle scolds her daughter to share.
- The girls take turns cranking the ice cream and Patience hangs the wash on the line to dry.
- When Patience hears the ice cream churn more slowly, she lets the girls know their work is done and Abby serves up scoops to each of them, perhaps giving herself ever so slightly more.
- Finished eating, Patience tells Abyssinia to head over to Mother Barker's place and read the paper to her. Abby invites Lily to join her, but Lily says her mom won't let her leave the neighborhood. Abby's unimpressed by this and pesters her pal to at least walk part of the way with her.
- Lily agrees, and as the girls walk, they talk about how Abby always gets to go to Mother Barker's place—something Lily seems to envy a bit, though Abby complains about the whole community being all up in her business all the time.
- Passing behind yards, Abby decides to climb a tree, despite Lily's protestations that she'll get in big-time trouble. Lily threatens to leave, so Abby starts taunting her and calling her a "scaredy-cat." Lily is ready with a comeback, though, and rubs Abby's nose in the fact that actually she's going home to learn how to bake a cake. So there.
- When Lily shakes her finger in Abby's face, Abby bites it—chomp—which sends Lily running home.
- Free to climb the tree now, Abby does just that, surveying the backyards in "the colored part of town." She thinks they're pretty, and right now they're all brimming with vegetables.
- Seeing none of the Lightsey family around, Abby drops down into their yard and starts snacking. Right after she bites into a fresh ear of corn, though, Sister Lightsey comes into the yard and sees her. Busted, Sister Lightsey puts together a switch, hits Abby's leg, and when the girl runs, starts chasing her around the garden, hitting her as she can. When she's finished, Sister Lightsey tells Abby to move along to Mother Barker's house.
- As Abby makes her way, she remembers her mom telling her that "Only those who love you can give you whippings." Abby feels like pretty much everyone in town feels free to whip her, though, but at the same time, she also feels like they all take a real sense of pride in her.
- When she arrives at Mother Barker's, the old woman notices her scratched-up legs. She asks Abby what took her so long, and Abby blames Lily. She finally admits she bit her friend, though, and Mother Barker comments that this means she'll get whipped when she gets home. Rough run for Abby, eh?
- Abby looks through the paper for stories that might interest Mother Barker and shares one about a black man named Teddy Walk who was shot by the police. The shooting was deemed "justifiable homicide" because the cops thought Walker had a gun… even though he didn't. (Sound familiar?)
- Mother Barker announces that she's going to teach Abyssinia how to bake her famous pound cake in time for the church anniversary party.
- While the anniversary party is all about commemorating the day the cornerstone for the church was laid, it's also all about the food. The women in the town pull out all the stops, "bless[ing] the tables with the lightest cakes, the flakiest crusted pies, the tenderest chicken, and the most highly seasoned greens, buttered okra, succulent peas, and spicy potato salad, the fluffiest rolls, and the tastiest buttermilk cornbread."
- If you'll pardon us for a moment, we need to go grab a snack. BRB.
- Patience is making Abby a blue dress for the party. Mother Barker tells her "blue is the color of the will of God."
- Mother Barker sends Abby to get some milk from Brother Jacobs, and as Abby makes her way, she thrills over learning to bake this cake. Mother Barker bakes the best pound cake around, and she's never given the recipe to anyone.
- Abyssinia gets the milk from Brother Jacobs then returns to Mother Barker's place, where she and Mother Barker start turning the cream from the top of the milk pails into butter. Mmm…
- Mother Barker guides Abby through the baking of the cake, insisting she learn the recipe by heart. It isn't just abut the ingredients, after all, it's about the method, too.