respected.”
Taylor turns around and faces Annawake, her hair wheeling. “I didn’t take Turtle from any family, she was dumped on me. Dumped . She’d already lost her family, and she’d been hurt in ways I can’t even start to tell you without crying. Sexual ways. Your people let her fall through the crack and she was in bad trouble. She couldn’t talk, she didn’t walk, she had the personality of—I don’t know what. A bruised apple. Nobody wanted her.” Taylor’s hands are shaking. She crosses her arms in front of her chest and slumps forward a little in the manner of a woman heavily pregnant.
Annawake sits still.
“And now that she’s a cute little adorable child and gets famous and goes on television, now you want her back.”
“This has nothing to do with Turtle being on television. Except that it brought her to our attention.” Annawake looks away and thinks about her tone. Lawyer words will not win any cases in this kitchen. She is not so far from Oklahoma. “Please don’t panic. I’m only telling you that your adoption papers may not be valid because you didn’t get approval from the tribe. You need that. It might be a good idea to get it.”
“And what if they won’t give it?”
Annawake can’t think of the right answer to that question.
Taylor demands, “How can you possibly think this is in Turtle’s best interest?”
“How can you think it’s good for a tribe to lose its children!”Annawake is startled by her own anger—she has shot without aiming first. Taylor is shaking her head back and forth, back and forth.
“I’m sorry, I can’t understand you. Turtle is my daughter. If you walked in here and asked me to cut off my hand for a good cause, I might think about it. But you don’t get Turtle.”
“There’s the child’s best interest and the tribe’s best interest, and I’m trying to think of both things.”
“Horseshit.” Taylor turns away, facing the window.
Annawake speaks gently to her back. “Turtle is Cherokee. She needs to know that.”
“She knows it.”
“Does she know what it means? Do you? I’ll bet she sees Indians on TV and thinks: How . Bows and arrows. That isn’t what we are. We have a written language as subtle as Chinese. We had the first free public school system in the world, did you know that? We have a constitution and laws.”
“Fine,” Taylor says, her eyes wandering over the front yard but catching on nothing. We have a constitution too , she thinks, and it is supposed to prevent terrible unfairness , but all she can remember is a string of words she memorized in eighth grade. “We the people,” she says out loud. She walks over to the sink and picks up a soup ladle, then puts it back down. The voice outside sings, “ I can’t feel it. You know they’re stealing it from me .”
Annawake feels an afterimage of her niece’s egg belly under her hands. “I’m sure you’re a good mother,” she says. “I can tell that.”
“How can you tell? You march in here, you…” Taylor falters, waving a hand in the air. “You don’t know the first thing about us.”
“You’re right, I’m assuming. You seem to care about her a lot. But she needs her tribe, too. There are a lot of things she’ll need growing up that you can’t give her.”
“Like what?”
“Where she comes from, who she is. Big things. And little things, like milk, for instance. I’ll bet she won’t drink milk.”
Taylor picks up the ladle again and bangs it against the metal sink, hard, then puts it down again. “You’ve got some Goddamn balls,telling me who my kid is. I’d like to know where you were three years ago when she was on death’s front stoop.”
“I was in law school, trying to learn how to make things better for my nation.”
“We the people, creating a more perfect union.”
Annawake offers no response.
“This here is my nation and I’m asking you to leave it.”
Annawake stands up. “I’m sorry this hasn’t been a more
Taylor turns around and faces Annawake, her hair wheeling. “I didn’t take Turtle from any family, she was dumped on me. Dumped . She’d already lost her family, and she’d been hurt in ways I can’t even start to tell you without crying. Sexual ways. Your people let her fall through the crack and she was in bad trouble. She couldn’t talk, she didn’t walk, she had the personality of—I don’t know what. A bruised apple. Nobody wanted her.” Taylor’s hands are shaking. She crosses her arms in front of her chest and slumps forward a little in the manner of a woman heavily pregnant.
Annawake sits still.
“And now that she’s a cute little adorable child and gets famous and goes on television, now you want her back.”
“This has nothing to do with Turtle being on television. Except that it brought her to our attention.” Annawake looks away and thinks about her tone. Lawyer words will not win any cases in this kitchen. She is not so far from Oklahoma. “Please don’t panic. I’m only telling you that your adoption papers may not be valid because you didn’t get approval from the tribe. You need that. It might be a good idea to get it.”
“And what if they won’t give it?”
Annawake can’t think of the right answer to that question.
Taylor demands, “How can you possibly think this is in Turtle’s best interest?”
“How can you think it’s good for a tribe to lose its children!”Annawake is startled by her own anger—she has shot without aiming first. Taylor is shaking her head back and forth, back and forth.
“I’m sorry, I can’t understand you. Turtle is my daughter. If you walked in here and asked me to cut off my hand for a good cause, I might think about it. But you don’t get Turtle.”
“There’s the child’s best interest and the tribe’s best interest, and I’m trying to think of both things.”
“Horseshit.” Taylor turns away, facing the window.
Annawake speaks gently to her back. “Turtle is Cherokee. She needs to know that.”
“She knows it.”
“Does she know what it means? Do you? I’ll bet she sees Indians on TV and thinks: How . Bows and arrows. That isn’t what we are. We have a written language as subtle as Chinese. We had the first free public school system in the world, did you know that? We have a constitution and laws.”
“Fine,” Taylor says, her eyes wandering over the front yard but catching on nothing. We have a constitution too , she thinks, and it is supposed to prevent terrible unfairness , but all she can remember is a string of words she memorized in eighth grade. “We the people,” she says out loud. She walks over to the sink and picks up a soup ladle, then puts it back down. The voice outside sings, “ I can’t feel it. You know they’re stealing it from me .”
Annawake feels an afterimage of her niece’s egg belly under her hands. “I’m sure you’re a good mother,” she says. “I can tell that.”
“How can you tell? You march in here, you…” Taylor falters, waving a hand in the air. “You don’t know the first thing about us.”
“You’re right, I’m assuming. You seem to care about her a lot. But she needs her tribe, too. There are a lot of things she’ll need growing up that you can’t give her.”
“Like what?”
“Where she comes from, who she is. Big things. And little things, like milk, for instance. I’ll bet she won’t drink milk.”
Taylor picks up the ladle again and bangs it against the metal sink, hard, then puts it down again. “You’ve got some Goddamn balls,telling me who my kid is. I’d like to know where you were three years ago when she was on death’s front stoop.”
“I was in law school, trying to learn how to make things better for my nation.”
“We the people, creating a more perfect union.”
Annawake offers no response.
“This here is my nation and I’m asking you to leave it.”
Annawake stands up. “I’m sorry this hasn’t been a more
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