CHAPTER THREE

A couple of days later, I’m sitting in the shade, swatting mosquitos when a loud noise erupts from the Big house. It’s not a shriek, a scream, or a wail. It’s more like a roar. I get up and run toward it. I don’t know why, but it somehow draws me.

When I finally get there, breathless, two men are coming out of the house, their faces grave. A girl is weeping behind them. When she looks up, I don’t recognize her through the grief and agony. Then I realize: It’s Miss Ellie! I stare. I’ve never been this close to a white girl before. Then she catches my eye, and I quick snatch my eyes away. But in that brief second, I seen something that I never seen before. It’s a mixture of anger, hopelessness, and love. It’s the saddest look I ever seen.

***************************************************************************************************

I stand there, behind the two doctors, unable to control my feelings. I feel so angry, so helpless, like a baby. I see the girl staring at me and it’s almost too much to bear. I turn and run into the house, ready to find another place to shed my tears. father sees me and reaches for me, but nothing will help me. Nothing will ever be the same again.

Mother is gone.