Shug Read Free Page A

“You know your daddy’s away on business, and your sister’s at Margaret’s, so I didn’t bother with dinner. You fix something up for yourself; I’m not hungry.”
    “Mama!”
    “What?” she says absentmindedly. She reaches for the wineglass on her nightstand and turns the page of her book.
    “Mama, I need to talk to you. I need some advice.”
    Mama takes a long sip of wine. “Okay, Shug,” she says. “You have my complete and undivided attention. What’s going on?”
    “Well, the thing is, I like someone. A boy,” I say. “But I don’t think he likes me.”
    Mama nods. “Who is this boy?”
    I hesitate. “Mama, you can’t tell anyone.”
    “All right.”
    “You have to promise, Mama.”
    “I promise. I shan’t tell a soul.” She crosses her heart.
    “Well, okay. It’s Mark.” I watch her hopefully.
    Mama finishes her wine, and says, “Mark Findley … Hmm … yes, he is a charming boy.”
    Hope begins to flutter in my chest like a little bird. See, allshe needed was that second chance. Mama knows all about men, maybe she really could help me decide what to do.
    “But, Shug, I sure hope your babies take after our side of the family and not his. His mama is just as common as coal.” She winks at me and goes back to her book.
    Sometimes I hate my mother so much I can’t breathe.
    “At least Mrs. Findley makes dinner,” I spit out.
    “Why, Miss Annemarie, are you mad at me?” She’s mocking me, and it only makes me madder.
    “You’re just jealous of Mrs. Findley; that’s why you say ugly things about her. And coal isn’t common. It’s a precious resource.”
    “Shug, I was only joking. You know I’ve always been fond of Mark, and I think his mama is really very sweet,” Mama says. “If you want Mark, you go and get him. I didn’t raise my daughters to be pacifists. Make love or make war, Shug, but make somethin’ happen. And you’ve got hands; you can fix your own dinner.”
    “Fine!” I leap off the bed and storm out.
    As I stomp down the stairs, as loudly as bare feet on carpet will allow, I hear my mother call, “Love you too, baby mine.”
    My mother has never forgiven Mrs. Findley for being the kind of mother I have always wished for.

chapter 3
    Elaine once asked me why Mama calls me Shug. I said, “Have you ever read The Color Purple ?” She said no, and I said, “Well there’s this character named Shug, Shug Avery …” I tried to explain, but I guess I didn’t do a very good job because she looked at me like I was crazy.
    So I said, “Never mind. It’s just Shug, Shug like sugar.”
    The Color Purple is one of Mama’s favorite books. Mine too. It’s all about living free, on the inside. The main character’s name is Celie (like Celia, see) and she’s had a real beat-down kind of life. She thinks she’s nothing. Then Celie meets Shug Avery, and boy, is Shug Avery a force of nature. That’s what Mama calls her, anyway. Shug Avery doesn’t take crap from nothin’ and nobody. She’s a singerand a temptress, too. When Shug Avery blows through town, she shakes the whole town up. Everyone’s enchanted by her: Celie, Celie’s husband, Mr._____; everyone. My mama, too.
    That’s why she calls me Shug—well, that, and it’s short for sugar. Plenty of mamas call their babies Shug, but for Mama, I know it’s more than a sweet way of talking. She wants me to be like Shug Avery, to squeeze every last drop out of life and be special, the way she and Shug are. And to be beautiful, the way she and Shug are. I think Mama’s still waiting for that part, for me to grow up and be beautiful. I think she might be waiting for that part forever.
    It’s ironic, because Celia’s already beautiful, and she was the one named for Celie, the plainest girl alive. I think maybe I should’ve been named Celie. Instead I am Annemarie, named for Mama’s sister who died when she was little. Mama says she was somethin’ special, wild and freer than anybody Mama knew. That must