Hush

Content Warning: This section contains mentions and descriptions of police brutality, racial violence, and a suicide attempt.

Shirley Green, a teacher, kneads dough while Toswiah and Cameron, her 12 and 13-year-old daughters, watch her. Toswiah asks if Shirley is making biscuits or bread; when Shirley affirms the former, the sisters exchange looks of excitement, anticipating a delicious dinner, including the coconut cake left over from Toswiah’s birthday. The girls’ father, Jonathan Green, a policeman, will be home soon for dinner. Cameron often worries that Jonathan will not come home one day, knowing police get killed all the time. However, he returns in time for dinner, greeting his daughters with the question: “So, what’d my copper pennies do today?” (4). Later that night, Toswiah watches the moon rise over the Rocky Mountains through her window, marveling at the beauty of the scene. In the present, she reflects on how this life is gone now.

Evie Thomas (Toswiah Green) confides in the reader that she cannot tell the truth about her life; if she did, it could kill her father. She can, however, write fiction, about two sisters named “Evie” and “Anna.” Evie reflects on how everything, except one’s soul, can be taken from them.