A Grandmother’s Advice
Tiffany’s grandma offers a wealth of advice to her young charge in the absence of her mother. One of the most imagery-laden is advice on dealing with men and their expectations:
“Every man is going to think of you as property. That’s why they want to put they last name on your name. Then you’re their property. So you want to make sure whoever you end up with knows how to maintain their property. See yourself as a house. You have to view yourself as the house on the highest part of the hill. You can’t let everybody come into your house. They can’t catch no bus to your house. They can’t ride no bike to your house. They got to have a nice car with four-wheel drive to get up to your house.”
The Accident
A terrible accident wreaks havoc on Tiffany’s life as result of what happens afterward. Her mother suffers devastating injuries and the process of her recovery transforms her into something completely different from what she was before. The imagery describing the immediate aftermath of the accident is particularly vivid:
“They wouldn’t let me see my mom for two months. The accident was real bad. Her head was open and all this stuff. They didn’t tell me the details, they just looked at me and told me my mama would be fine. I would always think, If she’s gonna be fine, why can’t I see her? When we finally got to see her, I was not prepared. She looked like a monster. Her eyes were black, and she had bandages across her head. She was swollen. Her whole body was swollen. She didn’t look like my mama.”
Roscoe
The physical description of a baggage handler the author works with at the airport whom she describes as a “handicapped angel” is also pretty tough going. It may not be the most politically correct imagery in the book, but it gets the job done:
“To start with, he only had one working arm. I don’t know how he even got that job—who hires a baggage handler with only one working arm? His right arm was big and strong and it worked great. But his left arm was like, this tiny deformed little arm. It was permanently bent at an angle, and kinda hung there and looked like a T. rex arm. He could move the fingers and stuff. Otherwise, it couldn’t do much. Like a baby arm that never fully developed. It made me feel creepy at first. Have you ever seen a physical deformity on a person, and at first, it sends a chill down your spine?"
Jada’s Advice
Ever wonder how it is that people who come from lower economic statuses move so easily into the life of the rich and famous? Even when they are people who make a big deal of keeping it real and holding onto that connection to their pre-stardom lifestyle? It is easy to blame them for being hypocritical or just plain liars, but you may not be getting the entire story. Jada Pinkett doles out some very useful advice, probably, but ultimately it does feel a little damaging to the soul more than anything else:
“Tiffany, you want to wear designer clothes, because people are going to be seeing you, you’re gonna be in the eye of the public and they’re gonna be like, what are you wearing? If you say Chico or Ann Taylor, that’s not going to work. You need to be wearing designers. It sets you apart from everybody else and puts you in a certain class level. If you want to be considered top-notch, you need to wear top-notch type things…I’ll introduce you to some people, but really, all it boils down to is using your fame to get the stuff. Designers want famous, pretty women wearing their clothes. You put yourself on Instagram wearing a $500 dress, most places will give it to you for free, or very cheap.”
