“That’s bullshit. First of all, I was speaking to Mama. I called her a couple of times but got her machine. So there, Miss Know-It-All. And Mama didn’t need me out there because you always Johnny-on-the-spot, running to rescue her and every-fucking-body, so why should I break my neck when you do everything anyway?”

“I do everything because I can’t fucking depend on anybody else to do it. That’s why.”

“You don’t give nobody a chance.”

“Oh, stop feeling sorry for yourself, would you? I’m so tired of this woe-is-me and Mama-didn’t-love-me-as-much-as-she-did-you bullshit, I don’t know what to do.”

“It’s not bullshit. It’s true. Mama always favored you.”

“Favored and loved are two different things.”

“Not in my book.”

“Okay, since we’re telling it, I’ll just say this. Who had to put all of you little son-of-a-bitches needs first, before I was even twelve years old? I was a goddamn mother before I even had my period! Mama showed me how to get things done and I got good at it. And . . .”

“Just wait one . . .”

“No, shut the hell up, Charlotte. I’m not finished, and this time you can’t hang up in my face. I can’t help it if you decided to get married and have kids and skip college and I didn’t. Why do you hate me because I did what Mama wanted all of us to do? It’s not my fucking fault you took a route that didn’t manage to upstage me or any of us. It was never a contest, Charlotte. In case you didn’t know that. So—you’re pissed at the wrong people. You should be pissed at yourself.”

“Ain’t nobody jealous of your ass. Don’t give yourself that much credit.”

“Then why do you always make it seem like everything I do in my life is meant to outshine you? Huh? I want you to be just as happy and successful as me and every-fucking-body else! Why wouldn’t I? All I’m trying to do is live my life. I mean, I used to sleep in the same bed with you. Bathe you. Comb your hair. Keep you warm at night. And now you talk to me with so much hostility in your voice that I can’t believe we grew up together. You act like you’re the one who always got the short end of the stick when you know damn well Mama loved you, and I love your stupid ass, too, even though you keep hanging up in my face every time we have a disagreement. Do you know how humiliating it is to have a misunderstanding with your own fucking sister and she always hangs up in your face after she says what she has to say, but is never interested in hearing your side? It’s such a cop-out. It’s so unfair. And childish as hell. But it’s also a very safe place to be.”

“Yeah, well, how safe is it running around trying to act like you perfect, like you ain’t got no problems, like you got everything under control? And then you got that perfect son, too.”