It's not my fault. So you can't blame me.
-- Narrator (Pages 1 - 3)

Importance: These two lines open the short story, and establish Sweetness's distinct first person narrative voice. Sweetness employs the second person direct address, breaking the fourth wall and speaking immediately to the reader. Iterations of these lines recur throughout the narrative and illustrate Sweetness's desperation to convince anyone, and herself, that she raised Lula Ann the best she knew how.

Can you imagine how many white folks have Negro blood hiding in their veins? Guess. Twenty per cent, I heard.
-- Narrator (Pages 1 - 3)

Importance: In the latter half of the story's first page, Sweetness describes her familial lineage, and the number of her relatives who could have passed for white. She uses these details as supporting arguments. She wants the reader to understand why she responded the way she did to Lula Ann's dark coloring at birth. These lines also further particularize Sweetness's narrative voice. She...