All the Days Past, All the Days to Come by Mildred D. Taylor
Author:Mildred D. Taylor
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Penguin Young Readers Group
Published: 2020-01-06T16:00:00+00:00
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After the boating trip, Uncle Hammer and Aunt Loretta had been called, and they had come to Los Angeles. I hardly spoke during the days following. Uncle Hammer took charge of things. It was Uncle Hammer who called all the family to let them know what had happened. It was Uncle Hammer who claimed Flynn’s body when it was recovered after Señor Peña and Jorge had pulled me, crazed and delirious, from the water. Another boat had approached, and divers, along with Jorge, had assisted in bringing Flynn from the water. At the time I knew nothing of this. Flynn had been taken to the other boat.
I had been taken to Flynn’s and my house, the house that was supposed to be our home for years to come. Mrs. Hendersen had come with all her ladies, and they had sat with me through the night. The next day Uncle Hammer and Aunt Loretta had arrived. I moved in a daze. Uncle Hammer, along with Señor and Señora Peña and Mrs. Hendersen, arranged the services. Neither Justine nor I was in any condition to do it. I attended the services, but I never looked on Flynn again. My beautiful husband, gone. His body, dragged down by the sea.
I just couldn’t bear it.
With the services over, Uncle Hammer and Aunt Loretta tried to get me to return to Oakland with them, but I refused. Mama and Papa called from Jackson and told me to come on back home, back home to Mississippi, and Big Ma said, “Come on, baby, come back home to the land,” and calls came from Stacey and Dee, and they said, “Come on home to Toledo, be with us,” and calls and letters too came from Christopher-John and Man, who said, “Come on home, back to us.” But I couldn’t go home, not yet. Not back to Toledo, not back to the land, not back to the family. I was too empty, too filled with grief. I knew everyone who loved me wanted to wrap their love around me, but I was not ready for that, not yet. I wanted to grieve on my own. The love I wanted was gone.
And, in the end, Uncle Hammer let me be alone. He looked at me and said, “You’re my blood, and I know you’re strong, Cassie. You always were. You have to do this thing the way you figure you have to do it. You going to hurt like hell for a long time, but in the end you’ll be stronger because of it. You deal with this the way you figure you’ve got to. You need me, you let me know. I won’t be far away.”
I assured him I would. After that, Uncle Hammer and Aunt Loretta left. Aunt Loretta wanted to stay longer to help me heal but Uncle Hammer said no. He understood me. He understood I did not want anyone to help me heal. I just wanted to be alone.
And I was.
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