Dearest Celie For my tenth birthday my father gave me a punching bag and suggested that I slug it instead of slamming doors and hitting my brother And that is how I became the world-famous boxer I am today Okay As you well know I am not a world-famous boxer I am instead a mild-mannered lawyer However it was fun having a punching bag and it did cause at least a small decline in the number of times I hit my brother And so today for your tenth birthday I present to you a sporty punching bag along with this journal May you find each beneficial whenever you’re struggling to work through your feelings And may you inflict significantly less violence on Jo There are far worse older sisters out there I promise you All my love Dad
This Diary Is the Private Property of Celie Valentine Altman
Saturday November 6 It’s me Celie I cried just now On my birthday I was in the kitchen eating my birthday cake and tears started dripping onto my plate Part of my cake got soggy All because of stinking rotten Lula I feel like calling her on the phone and saying something mean Like I know I said I like that wheelie thing you use instead of a backpack I lied I hate it Then I’d hang up The real truth is I did like her wheelie thing But now I can’t stand it Lula struggling
Me moving very freely Later Still My Birthday Jo helped me with my sadness Only not at first At first she annoyed me Because she kept asking why Lula hadn’t come over to celebrate my birthday the way she was supposed to But I don’t know why All I know is Lula became a VICIOUS OGRE at the beginning of the week For no reason Then yesterday she dropped a mean note on my desk I read that mean note then ripped it up But I can’t stop my brain from remembering it It said I’m not coming tomorrow I’m doing something else Lula Why is she doing something else WHAT MADE HER HATE ME
