Darlene sat and spoke with the girls. She sat uncomfortably in the dress she wore, trying desperately not to ruin it. Cholly’s Aunt Jimmy had died, leaving him without any parents. This saddened Darlene and she wanted to see him for how he was, but did not want to leave this group. Celia had gotten up at one point to go to the bathroom, and she had to beg Suky to sit back down. Suky always did things like that. Even in class did Suky act leader. Darlene disliked her because of this, but did not want to have no friends.
Darlene remembered the Cholly she knew before, a decent boy with bad habits, or the other way around. She wondered if he’d change at all, and grew more anxious to see him. The back door of the porch opened, and a boy walked out casually. The girl’s conversation had broken, but they were trained enough to fix it so no one would notice. Darlene, however, did notice, and froze when Cholly came out after the boy. The first boy stood there like a rooster, but much more sly. She saw Cholly staring at the boy and laughed to herself with Cholly’s poor attempt at recreating the boy’s stance.
Suddenly the group tensed, and Suky’s teasing became sharp. The group of sensitive girls were now callously testing each other; to mark and ruin those who showed weakness. Darlene did not try hard, as she knew Cholly would approach her and because she was not interested in the first boy. One of the girls became quiet and they all knew Suky won. The boy slowly approached her. “Want t’show me round?” Suky rose in glory above the other girls, breaking the circle she held so tightly, and drifted off with the boy. Cholly’s chest rose greatly and he clenched his fists as he approached Darlene. She now not only had power over the other girls, but over Cholly as well. Darlene smiled to herself. She used her power in the form of disinterest. Cholly spoke in a hidden nervousness. “D’ya want to... head to the gully with us?” Darlene smiled, stood up above the other girls, and walked away.
They walked quietly at first, then the boys made fun of each other. This made the girls laugh, and the boys feel a need to continue making them laugh. They arrived at the muscatine patch and ate a few grapes. Darlene did not so much enjoy the hardened texture as much as she was still watching Cholly. He didn’t seem different. You’d think he’d be changed a little. Soon, the boys began throwing grapes at the girls. The boys laughed, and the girls ran. Suky and Darlene ran together, each laughing and panting hysterically. Darlene looked down at her dress and became silent at the sight of the grape stains. She began to try to wipe them off with her hands. Suky shot disgust through her eyes towards Darlene. Darlene began weeping, and collapsed into her hands. Hearing Cholly approaching alone, she dried her face as best as she could. Seeing Cholly’s face made her feel like crying again. “Momma gonna whup me.” Cholly comforted her, and then started to tie her hair ribbon for her.
She only saw Cholly’s white eyes and moving body against the blue night. She could feel him inside her, and finally saw the difference Aunt Jimmy’s death made. His face was gravely serious, and his eyes never shifted from hers. A light in the distance grew incredibly bright, and suddenly Darlene saw two men carrying a lamp. Two white men carrying guns and a lamp. A shriek came from her throat, and Cholly turned around. She felt her stomach twist, and both their skins turn cold. All the heat rushed to her face, and she shoved her hands into her face to prevent tears and mask shame. “no no no no” repeated in her mind. She could only feel the low rumble of the men’s voices, not actually hear them. Then she felt Cholly entering her again, but this time where there was warmth and giving, was a coldness and emptiness. She remained motionless and almost shivering in the cold. She wanted Cholly to stop and to save her now, instead of letting this happen. She would rather be shot by one of them guns. Hounds howled and leaves cracked as the men left. She heard Cholly’s voice over everything. She opened her blurry eyes and left frozen moment. They acted as though what had just happened had not, as they had just awoken from a sleep. The sky rumbled and it rained. The rain could not clean her dress, and could not clean the experience. They ran home quickly and did not speak to each other.
The most obvious reason that Toni Morrison did not tell the story from Darlene’s is because she is not an influential character in the story. A scene from Darlene’s point of view would have thrown the story off, and would be a sore thumb in reoccurring important Pecola-related narrators. The important minor characters made later appearances, and those that did not were only given names because they were a useful person, nothing more. The story is essentially Pecola’s, and the characters are there to bring further light onto her tortured existence. Darlene is not one of these characters, and is only there for the scene of the two men misdirecting Cholly’s anger towards her. She is an object for the verb of the scene, and the eventual result is a troubled Pecola. That is not to say she was not an important character, as without this character not only would Cholly be different, and without it mentioned in the novel, less would be known about the reasons for Cholly’s reasons for sexual abuse towards Pecola. Scenes from the past are only there for present character enhancement, and there is more than enough important outside views of Cholly to suffice, but this is one where the internal point of view is vital.
