The girl with curly hair.

Title

Creator

de los Reyes, Amparo C.

Language

English

Year

1935

Subject

Personal narratives.

Anger management--Juvenile literature.

Rights

In Copyright - Educational Use Permitted

Abstract

A personal narrative about controlling temper and anger management.

Fulltext

August, Jr1.J.'i THE YOUNG CITIZEN The Girl With Curly Hair EVERY night I end my prayers this way: "And please, dear Father in Heaven, teach me to control my temper." Yet it doesn't seem to improve my temper at all. "It must be her cul"ly hail·," I ove1·hean'. Grandmother saying to Mothe1-. "Cm-!y hair and a fast temper ahVays go togethe1·." "Is that so!" I thought to myself. "Then, that is easily cured." I went to the kitchen and wet my hair and it lay back fiat and straight. I looked in the mirro1· and laughed when I saw how funny I looked with my hair plastered down. "Aba !" said a mocking voice behind me. "Laughing all by herself. Crazy!" I tul"lled a1·ouncl swiftly. There was Pe· dro (my brother) making a face at me from the do01·way. He is twelve (I'm only eltven) and he ought to have known better tha1~ to tag around and tease me all the time. "You let me alone," I told him fiercely. He danced a few fancy dancesteps. "You let me alone!" he piped; mimicking me. I tul"lled my back on him and just to show him I wasn't paying any attention, I began to powder my face. "Oho!" he crowed. "T1·ying to mai-:c herself beautiful! Even though you powder very hard, you'll always remain b-1-ac-k-black!" "Will you go away?" I c1·ied, my voice rising very high. "Hoh! Hoh!" he said. He made a grace·· ful twirl, then mincing out of the room h<~ began to sing: Tinta, violefo, negra! Negm, negrita, ita,! (Have I told you before that I am quite. quite dark? I am the darkest of all my sis* Aca<lemic Division, Dt1rC'au of f:.duC'atiol1. ters and because my hafr curls, they call me Negrita. Pedro had made up that song just to plague me.) Tinta, violeta., negra.' N egra, negrita, ita! He kept on singing and it seemed to mr that he was coming back! I closed my eyes and began to count a hund1·ed. The angry blood was making my ears very hot. I opened my eyes. Ped1·0 peeped into the room just then. "Tinta, violeta, ne,r;1'a.'" he sang, "Ne,r;ru, neg1·it-! I flung myself on him like a tiger. We hath fell on· the floor. He clutched at the table. The table-runne1· slipped down ancl Mother's·favorite flower jar came crashing just a few inches away from his head. We both got a beautiful spanking after\\" a i· cl s. I cried hard because I wa' spanked. I cried harde1· and shuddered to think of "·hat might ]lave happened if the: jar hit Ped1·0 on the heacf. (One part of my mind said-"lt would have served him right!") I c1·ied hardest yet when I sa..,,· that my hair began to curl once more a» soon as it d1·ied. Oh my hair and my terrible temper, is there no way of getting rirl of them?

Date Issued

I(7) August, 1935

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