Disclaimer: All characters are property of Jenny Han novelist of Shug. This is a piece on what could have happened after the novel ended.
“We’re done Grace y’hear? Done!”
“See if I care you ungrateful bastard! Leave! I don’t care! My daddy was right for sayin’ you were bad for me!”
“Everything I’ve done, everything I am doing, it was all for you Grace! All of it!”
“I never asked you to do anything for me Jack, I haven’t asked you to do shit in ten years!”
“You’re unbelievable you know that? Your thick headed skull can’t comprehend what I’ve done for you.”
“Just leave Billy, I don’t have anything to say to you.”
“Then don’t expect me to come back Grace, I’m through with this bullshit.”
“Fine by me.”
I could hear the door slam as Daddy made his way to the car and drove off into the night.
I also knew what was going to happen after Daddy left.
Mama crying of course. It’s always been like this.
It’s hard to remember when it all started, it just gets worse and worse.
Mama smokes a lot too after, the tobacco scent lingers in the morning after.
She sometimes spends the whole night down there, smokin’ and drinkin’. Celie and I don’t mind her anymore. It’s happened too many times.
Sometimes Mama makes it to bed, this is one of the few time we don’t see her sprawled out on the couch, covered in an old blanket, I can hear her, scuffling in the kitchen making her way up the stairs.
I worry sometimes that she’ll fall down the stairs and break her neck.
But it never happens.
I know Celia will be up, the fighting would wake anybody up.
“Celie, you think Mama and Daddy are going to get a divorce.”
“I don’t know Shug, you know how it usually goes.”
Celia doesn’t even look up from her book, she assumes I’ll just leave.
“I think this is it Celie, I think Daddy’s gone for good.”
Celia sighs as I sit on her floor.
“Annemarie, whatever happens happens. But we’ll always have each other okay?”
I let that sink in. How many times have we done this? Celia’s the one who takes care of me when Mama doesn’t. But lately I’ve been taking care of myself a lot more. Maybe because I’m about to start high school, and Celie’s going to be off to college soon.
“Annemarie?”
tart juniorI snap out of my thoughts as Celia stares at me and brushes my bangs out of my eyes.
“You want to sleep here tonight?”
I nod. I didn’t want to be alone.
“Yeah.”
