The Yellow House

Broom reflects on photographs of herself as a young teenager. There are no photographs of her between grades seven through nine because she doesn’t have any academic or athletic achievements to document with a photograph. Her sister Karen has two children and graduates from Southern University of New Orleans. They all live in the Yellow House.

Between 1991 and 1996, Broom’s life is defined by the people around her. She is awkward and uncomfortable in her body. Lynette is 18 when Broom is 13. Lynette loves fashion magazines and plans to study in New York City. In 1993, she leaves for the Pratt Institute of Technology to study fashion design.

Broom excels at teasing her peers. She likes verbal sparring but not physical fights. Because of her name-calling, her teacher often punishes her. When the punishment hurts, Broom explodes, “yelling profanities and whatever else would help me avoid shedding tears in front of my peers, which was the last thing on earth I want anyone to say about me: that I break, that I broke, that a teacher broke me” (189). She dislikes school. She has crushes on “hard, light-skinned boys” (190). She starts skipping school. Ivory Mae asks Eddie to help straighten Broom out, but it doesn’t work.