AGGIE NORTH

She had no idea the new neighbors were Black. How could she know? The furniture being unloaded looked regular, like any family’s. She wasn’t prejudiced, but her mama always insisted that people were happiest when they kept to their own kind. Still, Aggie really needed babysitting hours and dollars, and that baby looked very sweet. Didn’t matter anyway, since by freaking out and running away like that she had totally screwed up any chance of getting to babysit for them.

She was shook up by the visit next door, so she went into the doll room. Cookie was in the rocking chair where Morgan left her. Aggie put a sky-blue sweater over the doll’s dress—it was chilly in the house—and cradled Cookie in her arms and rocked her to sleep.