In stanza 3, why does the speaker’s mother “start an argument at the cash register”? Use details from the text to make inferences about what she wants. Th ere were no markets in Watts.

There were these small corner stores

we called marketas

who charged more money

for cheaper goods than what existed

in other parts of town.

Th e owners were oft en thieves in white coats

who talked to you like animals,

who knew you had no options;

who knew Watts was the preferred landfi ll

of the city.

One time, Mama started an argument

at the cash register.

In her broken English,

speaking with her hands,

she had us children stand around her

as she fought with her grocer

on prices & quality & dignity.

Mama became a woman swept

by a sobering madness;

she must have been what Moses saw

in the burning bush,

a pillar of fi re

consuming the still air

that reeked of overripe fruit

and bad meat from the frozen food

section.

She refused to leave

until the owner called the police.

The police came and argued too,

but Mama wouldn’t stop.

They pulled her into the parking lot,

called her crazy …

and then Mama showed them crazy!

They didn’t know what to do

but let her go, and Mama took us children

back toward home, tired of being tired.