Taking a Stand: What We've Been Waiting For All This Time. (Notes from Chapter 6)

'Before I can help myself, I've jumped up from the table and shoved Aisha's tray back at her so the gravy goes slopping onto her neat buttoned blouse. "What are you talking about, Aisha?" I whisper hotly. "You and your little perfect scores and your perfect this and that? Who cares if you're valedictorian? You're not going to college! You're not going anywhere!"
Aisha looks as if I've socked her in the chest. She sits back, breathing hard. Her frizzy hair has straggled loose from her braid. She blinks away a few tears. The others stare at me in shock. Then she picks up her tray, stiffly, and walks down the aisle of tables. I'm left staring at my own tray. Strange, nasty thoughts swarm into my head. I've never made my sister cry before. It seems impossible. Aisha is too strong, too smart for me. But this is different. It's like having a new kind of power, black and ugly, like what Uncle did to me this morning.
And the weird thing is: I like it.'

I have been waiting for Nadira to speak up for the whole book. I was not, however, expecting Nadira to insult Aisha to the point that she cries. I thought that Nadira would tell Aisha that she's not just 'the fat dreamy one', she's a smart, kind girl that deserves respect, and Aisha would blow her off, but gain some respect because Nadira told her that. I had no idea that Nadira would yell at her sister until Aisha cried in front of her friends. Nadira also spilled gravy on her sister's blouse, which probably pissed Aisha off. Then telling her no one cares about her being the valedictorian, and that she is not going to college? Nadira must have gone mad. I always say that her eyes rolled to the back of her head and fought for her life. I hope that this incident will help Nadira become more confidant with herself, and help Aisha learn that it is not always about her, and that sometimes she needs to pay attention to her sister and give her the respect that she deserves.
I also noticed that after the cafeteria showdown, Nadira said that she felt she had 'black and ugly power' that she had used to spite her sister. She made you think that what she had said and done was truly a malicious act, and then she says 'And the weird thing is: I liked it.' That was the part where I thought to myself: Nadira is going a little overboard with the new-found power over Aisha. Even though Aisha is constantly being rude to Nadira, I think that Nadira should be the adult and try and be as respectful as possible to Aisha without becoming a kiss-up. There's a really fine line between Standing up for yourself and being purposefully malicious, and I think Nadira might have stepped a little over the line.