The South in her.

Rumor was that Mrs. Yancey had a way with white folks. They couldn’t deny her anything. That’s what folks said . . . that she must honey up to them; leastways, smile a lot. That was the only way the beautiful things she had in her house could be accounted for. Mrs. Yancey couldn’t have bought such lace, or that silver tea service. Imagine a colored woman having afternoon tea and crumpets with all that silver. Indigo always carried her doll-friend Miranda over to Mrs. Yancey’s. Miranda had better manners than some of her other dolls. Miranda was always clean, too, in a red paisley pinafore and small black sandals. Indigo let Miranda use her parasol to protect her from the sun. What proper young woman would come visiting faint and perspiring? Only some of Indigo’s more country dolls would have marched to Mrs. Yancey’s with the outdoors all over them.

Indigo walked up to Mrs. Yancey’s front porch, pulled her slip up, and fussed with the hair sticking out of her braids. She’d rinsed her hands off, but re-doing her hair for a short chat seemed to make too much of a regular outing. Besides, Miranda was really dressed up. Indigo had decorated her bonnet with dandelions, and sprayed some of her mama’s perfume under her arms and behind her knees. When she was ready, Indigo rang the bell and waited. Sure enough, Mrs. Yancey was coming to the door. She wore slippers with the heels all beat down that made a sound like Bill Bojangles when he did the soft shoe. Opening the bright white door, while pulling the apron from around her neck, Mrs. Yancey bent down to kiss Indigo on the cheek.

“Now ain’t you looking mighty fresh today, Indigo. And Miranda must be going to a social, all decked out, huh?”

“No, M’am. We just thought you might want some company. I was talking to Miranda and she told me you were thinking on us real hard.”

“Y’all come in and make yourselves at ease in the parlor. Miranda must gotta second sense. She always knows when I wanna see my little girls.”

Mrs. Yancey’s house smelled like collard greens and corn bread, even when she fried oysters and made red sauce. Indigo nudged Miranda.