The Skin I'm In

Because of the job, Momma ends Maleeka’s punishment early. Maleeka’s best friend, Sweets, is at Maleeka’s house using the phone to call a boy named Larry. Neither of them is allowed to talk to boys, but Sweets has liked Larry since they were six years old. Maleeka and Sweets have been best friends since kindergarten. Sweets attends Central Middle School, a school for gifted girls across town; Maleeka could have gotten in, but she got nervous and froze up during the interview. Maleeka thinks that that school is for light-skinned, fancy kids anyway; Sweets says that belonging there is not about complexion but about self-confidence.

While Sweets is on the phone, Maleeka rummages under her bed and pulls out an old mirror her Daddy gave her. She looks a lot like her father. She thinks about how her father used to come from work and say, “I sure could use me a warm cup of cocoa” (28); this was his way of asking her to give him a hug and kisses. Looking in the mirror, Maleeka thinks she is good-looking and doesn’t get why others don’t see it. She decides to cut her hair very short. Now off the phone, Sweets helps take out Maleeka’s braids. Sweets’s cousin Ronnie, a hairdresser, agrees to do the cut when Sweets calls to ask. With approval from Momma, the girls go to Ronnie. Afterward, Maleeka loves the haircut and receives compliments from ladies in the shop. They all encourage Maleeka to strut with a confident attitude.

At school, teachers are surprised by Maleeka’s haircut, and kids mock her “peanut head.” Maleeka goes to the bathroom to cry. She knows that no matter what she looks like, people will still criticize her appearance. Looking in the mirror, she remembers when her Daddy told her, “Maleeka, […] you got to see yourself with your own eyes” (31). Her confidence is shaken but renewed. She wipes her face and leaves the bathroom.

Maleeka wakes up late because her alarm clock is broken. While getting dressed, Maleeka ignores the newest shirt her Momma sewed for her because it’s lopsided. She feels bad; she knows Momma sews to cope with Daddy’s death.

The oatmeal for breakfast is cold. Dressed in her uniform, Momma is eating and reading the newspaper. She reads the newspaper every day to follow the stock market. She hopes to invest and get rich, but every time she saves up money it must be used for some other necessity. However, because they have such a low income, Momma is always looking for ways to make money. People think Momma is “crazy,” and they talk to her like she is. But Momma is smart and very good at math. Momma is a bit eccentric, and sometimes other kids will laugh at her, but Sweets is quick to shut them up. Regardless, they all know that Momma has the biggest heart in the neighborhood.

Today, Charlese is rude to Miss Brown, the lunch lady, so Miss Brown deliberately messes up Charlese’s lunch—lettuce in her milk, crusted food on her fork, and something “indescribable” on her burger bun. Maleeka offers her own lunch, but Charlese is furious. She shoves another girl out of her way at the table and flings a handful of peas in her face. She insists Maleeka force the lunch ladies to give her a new lunch. After enough of Charlese’s threats, Maleeka takes Charlese’s tray and gets back in line to talk to Miss Brown. However, Miss Brown says she will only take the tray back if Charlese brings it herself. After hearing Charlese yelling at Maleeka from across the lunchroom, though, Miss Brown finally agrees to fix the lunch, but she and Maleeka agree to leave the unknown stuff on the bun. Maleeka moves it inside the burger, covers it with condiments, and returns it to Charlese. Though suspicious at first, Charlese eats the burger. She tells Maleeka to “get lost,” so Maleeka goes to sit with Desda. Then, Caleb approaches, saying that Maleeka looks good and that he wants to talk to her. Maleeka tells him not now, making the excuse that she and Desda are doing homework. When Caleb walks away, Desda asks Maleeka for math homework help. Soon, Maleeka is doing Desda’s homework, although she hasn’t done her own.

On the way out of the cafeteria, Maleeka passes Charlese, who is dressed fabulously and surrounded by boys. Charlese sends Raise to ask Maleeka if she has done Charlese’s homework yet. Maleeka hands over her math homework, as well as Raise’s and Raina’s. She lies, saying she didn’t do the social studies homework, but she secretly withholds it. Desda tells Maleeka she shouldn’t do anything for those girls.

The next morning Charlese never shows up in the bathroom to lend Maleeka a change of clothes. This is payback for not giving her the social studies homework. Maleeka is late for class because she is rereading Life of a Slave Girl, a book Miss Saunders gave her. She has read it twice already in the last few days. She hurries to class with a new addition to her diary writing assignment in hand. This entry is still about Akeelma, the enslaved girl; in this one, she is hungry and has her food stolen.

Before Maleeka makes it to Miss Saunders’s class, she bumps into John-John. When he mocks her, she confronts him about the teasing. John-John says Maleeka has always acted like she was better than him. He was upset in the second grade when the teacher told her to sit next to him, but she wanted to sit in the front next to Caleb instead. He remarks that Caleb is light-skinned. Maleeka explains she didn’t know Caleb then; it was only so she could see the board. Still, John-John feels she thinks she’s better than him. She explains that she’s having a hard time, and John-John is pleased by this. As they enter Miss Saunders’s room, Maleeka realizes that John-John is jealous of her, but she doesn’t know why. Five minutes later, Miss Saunders gets to class late.