How long have you had this house, Sis Williams?
… Fo' nigh on forty years, even sence Cudge an' me come here from Montgomery. An' I been washin' fo' white folks ever' week de Lawd sent sence I been here, too.
Bought this house washin', and made as many payments myself as Cudge come near; an' raised ma chillens washin'; an' when Cudge taken sick an' laid on his back for mo'n a year, I taken care o' him washin'; an' when he died, paid de funeral bill washin', cause he ain't belonged to no lodge.
Sent Tempy through de high school and edicated Annjee till she marry that ornery pup of a Jimboy, an Harriet till she left home.
Yes, sir. Washin', an'here I is with me arms still in de tub!
Langston Hughes. Not Without Laughter
