“Sonny’s a very intelligent boy,” my mother said. “He comes from a good family.”

“I don’t care,” my sister said. “I don’t want to waste myself on him.”

“Waste yourself ?” My mother laughed derisively. I got up and went to the door of my sister’s room. My sister was sitting at her dressing table, her hair shining like glass and her eyes closed. My mother was walking back and forth, gesturing with the hairbrush. “He ’s the one who’s throwing himself away,” she said. “Who do you think we are, anyway? We ’re nobodies.”

“I’m pretty!” my sister objected angrily.

My mother shrugged. “The woods are full of pretty girls. What ’s more, they’re full of pretty, rich girls. Now, Sonny’s a very nice boy—”

“Leave me alone!” My sister pulled her hair up from her shoulders and held it in a soft mop on the top of her head. “Sonny’s a jerk! A jerk!”

“He ’s nice-looking!” my mother cried.

“Oh, what do you know about it?” my sister cried. “You’re old, for God ’s sake!”