What does the author say she will learn to do?

Where is the author's father?

Which word means "to braid" and fills in the sentence below?

My mother has uncharacteristically spent nearly an hour on my hair that morning, ____________ and re_________ so that now my scalp tingles

Which word means "to be full or swarming" as in the sentence below:

All the way down New Jersey Avenue, the sidewalks are ________________ with children

Which word means "barely perceptible of sight or smell" and completes the sentence below?

Whenever I turn my head quickly, my nose fills with the ___________ smell of Dixie Peach hair grease.

Which word means "unwilling to give or spend" and completes the sentence below?

Behind my ears, my mother, to stop my whining, has dabbed the _____________ bit of her gardenia perfume, the last present my father gave her before he disappeared into memory

Which word means" damaged or impaired" and completes the sentence below: "At I Street, between New Jersey Avenue and Third Street, we enter Seaton Elementary School, a _____________, sadfaced building across the street from my mother’s church, Mt. Carmel Baptist."

Which word means "demanding" and completes the sentence below?

"My mother does not believe that a girl in kindergarten needs such things, so I am taking them only because of my __________________ whining and because they are presents from our neighbors, Mary Keith and Blondelle Harris."

Which word means "having a gently calming effect" and completes the sentence below:

"The smell is somehow a ______________ one now and I will reach for it time- and time again before the morning ends"

Which word means "to wrap up or surround completely" and completes the sentence below:

"She is ________________ in a perfume that I only know is not gardenia."

Which word means "covered or marked with a large number of small spots or patches of color" and completes the sentence below:

"I am carrying a pencil, a pencil sharpener, and a small ten-cent tablet with a black-and-white _______________ cover".

What word means "of great value; not to be wasted or treated carelessly" and completes the sentence below:

"The women are as _____________ to me as my mother and sisters. "

Read the passage below. What is the mother feeling here?

”This form. Would you mind help in me fill it out?” The woman still seems not to understand. "I can’t read it. I don’t know how to read or write, and I’m askin' you to help me.” My mother looks at me, then looks away. I know almost all of her looks, but this one is brand new to me.