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A black man in a puffy jacket peers in at us, whitest teeth I’ve ever seen. The whites of his eyes, too, look really white, the inside of his lip the baby pink of Mrs. Norkus’s petunias. He takes our measure—what can he be thinking, a priest traveling with all these women? He smiles, points, gives Mum a set of quick, easy instructions. From the back seat we three gape at him with our mouths half open. Anne pats my knee: Stop staring, sweetie. The puffy-coat man stands back after giving his big-smile directions: “Ya can’t miss it!” Mum will chuckle over this the whole day, repeating “‘Ya can’t miss it!’” as if to say, Mother of Mary, they talk just like us! She’ll shake her head. “That man was so nice. Wasn’t that man nice, girls? ‘Ya can’t miss it!’” And we don’t. Down this street, turn here, up that street, turn there, and look-girls-look: the White House, just where that nice man said.
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