The Other Half of My Heart by Sundee T. Frazier Read Free Book Online

every square inch to make sure not one deal was missed. They would pile the clothes so high that they’d exceed the dressing room limit and have to leave most of them outside. Minni’s task became watching the mountain of clothes and having the next ten outfits ready to go.
    She pulled out a light turquoise gown that shimmered with a rainbow of colors, like the inside of an oyster. She held it up to herself and ran her hand down the full skirt.
    “That would work wonderfully with your coloring.” The woman stood back and looked her up and down. “Definitely. It brings out the blue in your eyes and highlights your lovely red hair.” She reached for the dress. Minni handed it over. “I’ll start a dressing room for you. Are you alone?”
    “My grandma and sister are coming.”
    The woman nodded and took the dress to the back of the store.
    Gigi and Keira came in the front. Keira went straight to the display window and the fire-engine red dress hanging on a mannequin.
    Gigi walked toward Minni. “Find anything?”
    Minni fingered the satin ribbon on a lime-green dress.“Gigi, what if I trip and fall? Or forget what I’m supposed to say?” She had started having dreams of herself at the pageant. In one of them, when she tried to talk, all she could do was cluck like a chicken.
    Gigi patted her shoulder. “Don’t worry, honey. That won’t happen.”
    The saleswoman came back. “I’ve started a room for your granddaughter in the back.” She eyed Keira holding up a dress near the front of the store. “Excuse me!” the woman called out. She beelined toward Keira. “I’d rather you didn’t handle the dresses yourself.” She grabbed the gown from Keira’s hands and stuffed it back onto the rack.
    The woman might as well have pulled out a gun and shot it into the air. Minni’s heart hammered in her chest. Her face and palms prickled with heat.
    “Was she really hurting anything?” Gigi went and stood next to Keira.
    “I just prefer that…people…not handle the dresses.” The woman wrung her hands. “Skin oils can ruin the fabrics.”
    Minni held her breath.
Say something!
she shouted at herself, but she couldn’t figure out what it should be. Her jaw felt locked in place.
    Gigi put her arm around Keira. “Let’s go, girls. I think we’ll take our business elsewhere.”
    Keira’s eyes blazed.
    The woman’s fake tan couldn’t cover the pink flooding her cheeks.
    They turned and headed for the door.
    *   *   *
    G igi drove them toward the big indoor mall. “Never mind that rude woman,” she said. “We’ll find the perfect gowns—you’ll see!”
    “Yeah, what was up with that lady?” Keira asked. “It’s not like I put the dress on the floor and stomped on it.”
    Minni replayed the store scene in her mind. What
had
happened back there?
    One thing Minni was certain of—the woman hadn’t realized Keira was her sister. Strangers always thought she and Keira were just friends, and they
never
believed they were twins. When they were alone with their brown-skinned mama, Minni was the “friend,” and when they were with pink-skinned Daddy, it was Keira’s turn.
    Still, even if the woman didn’t know they were related, there was no excuse for the way she had treated Keira.
    A thought pushed its way into Minni’s mind, even as she fought to keep it out.
    She thought you were white
.
    So? Lots of people thought that.
    She saw Keira as black
.
    Minni’s insides tightened and coiled.
    That’s why she treated Keira differently
.
    Minni felt as though she might get sick.
    T hey didn’t return home until almost seven o’clock. They’d stopped at Fat Smitty’s for cheeseburgers and fries, plus it had taken forever to find shoes. To Minni’s horror,they’d had to go to the ladies’ department for hers. Her feet were suddenly too big for the girls’ sizes. She plopped on the couch next to Mama, limp with mall fatigue.
    Keira hugged her sun-yellow sleeveless chiffon halter dress with a