Page 86 - Purchasing Power Black Kids and American Consumer Culture

"What Are You Looking At, You White People?" . 71

Natalia went into her grandparents' house alone, while Asia, who lives
next door, waited with Tionna and me on her shady front porch. Several min-
utes later Natasha came bursting through her grandparents' front door hold-
ing her birthday cake in its box and running full speed. "Asia, can you put this
in your freezer?" Natalia asked, her voice at once squeaky and breathless.
Natalia's brother, who didn't even like ice-cream cake, had been threatening
to take a slice before it was time. Asia took the cake upstairs to her apartment
and Natalia went back to her grandfather's house.
She came hurtling out of the house again, followed by her grandfather
who was visibly angry. He took her over his knee on the front porch, though
he did not seem to spank or hit her. Throughout, Natalia, furious, remained
silent. Asia, Tionna, and I watched from the safety of the porch, the girls trying
to tell me about Natalia's grandfather. They slipped me tidbits of information
from the sides of their mouths, so that Natalia's grandfather, if he happened to
look over, would not see them talking. When Natalia was released she joined
us on Asia's porch. The ten-year-old birthday girl was a vibrating tower of
anger. I asked her how she felt, and her response was to wither me with a
burning glance. Asia and Tionna laughed the whole thing off and made fun of
Natalia.
We collected the cake and some paper plates and took it to the apartment
out of which Natalia's mother was moving. The large, second-floor apartment
was nearly empty, holding only a legless couch and clothes in piles. Natalia's
mother had not expected her daughter and entourage to arrive there and had
already sent the dishes and flatware to the new apartment. We had no forks to
eat the cake with, though there was a knife to cut it. Natalia's mother contin-
ued packing and moving while the party was going on. She did stop to bring
the cake out, and we sang "Happy Birthday" to Natalia in as many keys as
there were people. Natalia asked what she should wish for, and her cousin
said, "Just wish for a million dollars." We put slices of melting ice-cream cake
onto the paper plates and ate them with our hands.

Natalia's party was probably not supposed to be the impromptu, dis-
organized event it turned out to be. Though Natalia's mother was mov-
ing on the day of her daughter's birthday and was mostly unavailable
for celebrating, she had gone out of her way to order an $18 birthday
cake for Natalia and had picked it up downtown the day before. My
guess is that the family had planned a small gathering for that evening,
after the move was over, in the home of Natalia's grandparents, where
the cake was being stored. Whatever her reasons were—and Natalia