Last Summer with Maizon Read Online Free Page A

eyes.
    â€œI see yellows and browns and reds. It looks like the fall. Since we’re special, we probably see colors no one else in the whole world sees.”
    â€œUh huh,” Margaret said.
    â€œMargaret? I’m starting to see some blues too.”
    Best friends should always see the same things, Margaret thought, reaching for Maizon’s hand. For a long time they sat in silence. Margaret heard Maizon snoring softly beside her. In a little while, she, too, dozed off.
    When Ms. Tory walked in late in the afternoon, they jumped. Her face was ashen and streaked with rain. Her eyes, slanted like Margaret‘s, were now puffy and swollen. Margaret’s eyes rested on her mother’s mouth. It was pulled into a tight, solemn line and for a moment she thought her mother was angry, but then she realized it was something worse than anger. Much, much worse. Li’l Jay began to cry in the next room and Maizon left to quiet him.
    â€œHow’s Daddy?” Margaret asked, afraid to look at her mother’s eyes. If she did, she knew she would see that the worst was happening.
    Ms. Tory sank to the couch and pulled Margaret to her. She held her tightly and cried into Margaret’s shoulder. “I tried to call you, sweetheart. I wanted you to see him before ...”
    Margaret knew then that her father would not be home again. A lump rose in her own throat. Tears pushed against the insides of her eyes. “No, Mama,” she whispered.
    â€œI wanted you to see him before he died, Margaret. But when they pressed that ... that mask against his face I knew it was too late.”
    â€œPlease, Mama,” Margaret begged, holding on to her mother’s sleeves. “Tell me he didn’t die, Mama, please!”
    â€œI don’t know what’s going to happen to us now, Margaret. I just don’t know.”
    Margaret felt her father’s hands on her shoulders. A warm breath brushed against her forehead. She swallowed. “We’re going to be okay, Mama,” she whispered. Her voice was small and uncertain. “I promise, Mama. We’re going to be okay.”

5
    W hen Margaret walked into Li‘l Jay’s room, the rain was beating out a soft one-two against the pane. Night was coming on quickly and thunder cracked across the sky. Maizon was sitting on the floor beside Li’l Jay’s crib. Margaret tiptoed over and kneeled beside her.
    â€œI should go home, I guess,” Maizon said, starting to rise. She had been crying.
    â€œMy daddy died today,” Margaret whispered. She opened her mouth and closed it, then turned to Maizon and tried to speak again. “Died,” she said, and in the crazy night air of the rainstorm, the word had a strange echo to it. She stared into Li’l Jay’s crib. His thumb crept slowly to his mouth and soft sucking sounds mingled with storm.
    She pressed her face against his crib. “Daddy died today,” she said again. “He’s not coming home.”
    Margaret knew she was trying to make sense of the words, rolling them around on her tongue until they found a place to settle in her brain; a place where they’d become real.
    â€œMargaret,” Maizon whispered, “my grandmother said when people go to heaven, there’s a rainbow when they smile.”
    Margaret stared at her as though she were just realizing Maizon was in the room. She got up and walked slowly over to the window.
    â€œYou see anything, Margaret?”
    â€œNo, nothing. Not even a little blue,” Margaret said.
    â€œIt’s too dark out,” Maizon whispered.
    â€œMaybe he’s not smiling, Maizon. Maybe it still hurts.”
    â€œMaybe he hasn’t gotten there yet. Heaven’s a long way away.”
    â€œYou think so?”
    â€œHe’ll be there tomorrow,” Maizon said.
    They stared out into the darkness.
    â€œI don’t know what’s going to happen now, Maizon. I bet even Ms. Dell