The Pros And Cons Of Diapers

Al and I sat in the office of Blanchard and Calhoun Realty and Mortgage Company filling out forms and signing an array of papers, we did not even read, while being indoctrinated to an unfamiliar world of home financing. Our heads were spinning, but within three hours, we became the owners of a new house and a twenty-year mortgage. The agent who sold us the house thanked us profusely, and the other people in the room shook our hands and wished us good luck in our new home. One last night in that disgusting apartment, and the following day, a big moving van delivered the stored furniture to our new address on Brighton Circle. Our savings had dwindled down to $500 cash, and we still needed to buy kitchen appliances and a crib for the baby. The neighbor with the carport facing ours came by, hollering ‘howdy’ through the screen door and introducing herself as Phyllis. She had a strong southern accent and I could not understand much as she was rambling on about picking up her ‘youngins’ and ‘ol’man’ Wren, who works for Bell Telephone. She

She continued, “Errik, we just have to coordinate our diaper wash days, and I want Monday, Wednesday and Friday. I don’t like to have my dingy looking diapers on the line next to your white, bright ones. What are the neighbors gonna think? And why are your diapers so dazzling white anyway?”
For a moment, I felt contempt for my surroundings, Augusta, Georgia, for the entire country, but I heard myself saying, “I have a big black pot where I boil my diapers in soapy water. If you like those days for your wash, I take the rest of the weekdays.”
There was no reason to mention the episode at the Colonial Store. She had scolded me for walking with the children along Peach Orchard Road also called Highway 25. In her opinion, poor people like “niggers” walk, or sit in the back of the bus - not white people, especially ladies who have cars, and I had no business “strutting” out