The Book of Bright Ideas by Sandra Kring

Freeda’s head dipped down to face Ma’s middle. She clamped her hands on the waist of Ma’s dress and bunched the material tight. “Just look at this, will ya? Starlets once had ribs removed to get waists as tine as this! Course, you keep this asset hidden under there damn sacks your wear.” Freeda patted Ma’s chest where her boobies were supposed to be. “You don’t have much up here, so you gotta bring the eye to that pretty waistline. You see what I’m getting at, Jewel? Distraction! The trick is to learn distraction, just like I have.”

Freeda backed up and leaned on one leg. “Granted I’m a pretty good-lookin’ woman in spite of my shortcomings, but I’ll tell you one thing, Jewel. Even if I was as ugly as a mud fence, I’d still be struttin’ my stuff. And that’s no goddamn lie. I don’t care who we are, or what we look like, we’ve still got something worth struttin’, and we should be proud of whatever the hell that something is. No matter what anybody says to us to the contrary.”

I wasn’t sure why, but those words were the words that made Ma cry the hardest. I pulled away from the door and leaned against the wall.