The senegalese twist
Barry Gifford
(...)A slender girl with skin the color of maple syrup came up to Roy and said, loud enough for everyone to hear, "Don't tell me you're lookin' for your mama, baby, 'cause she ain't been here."
(...)
"What's your name?"
"Roy"
"Mine is Charleen. C-h-a-r-l-e-e-n. You tall for your age, Roy. Almost tall as me, and I'm seventeen. I be in Miss Racy's everyday but Sunday and Monday you want to take me up on my offer."
(...)
Charrleen's freckles glittered in the sunlight. A butterfly landed on top of her high piled hair.
"There's a butterfly on your head."
"Those ladies, they get Raunchy, don't they? Miss Racy say the reason I'm attracted to very young boys is because my step daddy messed with me. He's gone now. Marleen, my sister, she cut off his privates while he was sleeping' and he bled to death. He was messin' with her too. The butterfly still there?"
"Yes"
"He like me. You like me you know me better."
She tilted her head and the butterfly flitted off. (...)
Extract from the tale 'The Senegalese twist' included in the book "The Cuban Story", by barry Gifford.
Made for the cultural supplement 'Confabulario' in the journal 'El Universal. Mexico City, January 2018.
