Calling for a Blanket Dance

Sissy sees Lonnie, Ever’s fiancée, in the company of one of the McCarty boys and thinks to herself that it is a “match made in Cherokee hell” (118). Her brother is away in the army and does not know what his fiancée is doing behind his back. Sissy is chagrined when their mother invites Lonnie to live with them. Sissy, in nursing school, is stretched thin between her coursework and taking care of her son Kyran. She is not happy that Lonnie has joined their family, but her mother tells her to give the girl a chance, and that Lonnie’s family had always treated her poorly.

Lonnie works at Burger King, and Sissy typically takes Kyran to play there on the weekends. She often sees Lonnie talking to men, and she wants to give her the benefit of the doubt, but she thinks that Lonnie’s behavior is flirtatious. She finds out from someone she knows that Lonnie is cheating on Ever while he is away. Lonnie changes jobs again, twice. At her next job, another fast-food restaurant, Sissy sees her obviously flirting with another man (the two had been dancing suggestively) and she asks Lonnie if Lonnie loves her brother.