WHITE CHOCOLATE is WHITE CHOCOLATE FOR MY FATHER. It was written to let him understand something about the nature of our lives when he was not there. At some point, he blamed himself for not being able to be there, but I realized that there was no way anyone could have been there with my mother because she was the product of this cyclical rape and violence:
MICKEY: "...Rema was 11 & I was 9. Mr. Chissolm would call one of us in and use his fingers inside us. And I would cry and Rema would scream. Mama would make us go into him again & again. We picked cotton rather than have to stay home with him....And Mr. Chissolm beat Mama and they both beat us till they drew blood then his fingers. Tore me open with his thing. Tore Rema open from behind. She was too sick to work but she worked and she bled & we picked a hundred pounds of cotton & we slept in the same bed with Mama and Mr. Chissolm & I pulled lint out from between my legs & I picked cotton till we left Memphis till we boarded the train."
from WHITE CHOCOLATE by Laurie Carlos. All rights reserved.
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