Summary

Charlotte – One night, Charlotte discovers her mother breastfeeding Charlie. She is sickened and horrified by this, but Laurel says Charlie needs it, or he wails. She tells Charlotte not to tell anyone, especially her father, because Laurel must do it in her own time in her own way because it is a sensitive subject. Charlotte is still disturbed by this, and so tells Adia about the Toneybee the next day, though she does not mention the breastfeeding. Adia, who calls her mother, Marie, by her first name, tells Charlotte they must tell Marie about Toneybee. Marie is an art professor at Courtland County Community College, but lives on Main Street in a converted general store with Adia where they assume the roles of angry black women. She and Adia’s father, a jazz musician, came up from the South as affirmative action hires at...