The Women of Brewster Place by Gloria Naylor

Author:Gloria Naylor
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
ISBN: 9781101656174
Publisher: Penguin Group US
Published: 2005-06-27T21:00:00+00:00

Spring was slowly beginning to announce itself at Brewster Place. The arthritic cold was seeping out of the worn gray bricks, and the tenants with apartment windows facing the street were awakened by six o’clock sunlight. The music no longer blasted inside of 3C, and Ciel grew strong with the peacefulness of her household. The playful laughter of her daughter, heard more often now, brought a sort of redemption with it.

“Isn’t she marvelous, Mattie? You know she’s even trying to make whole sentences. Come on, baby, talk for Auntie Mattie.”

Serena, totally uninterested in living up to her mother’s proud claims, was trying to tear a gold-toned button off the bosom of Mattie’s dress.

“It’s so cute. She even knows her father’s name. She says, my da da is Gene.”

“Better teach her your name,” Mattie said, while playing with the baby’s hand. “She’ll be using it more.”

Ciel’s mouth flew open to ask her what she meant by that, but she checked herself. It was useless to argue with Mattie. You could take her words however you wanted. The burden of their truth lay with you, not her.

Eugene came through the front door and stopped short when he saw Mattie. He avoided being around her as much as possible. She was always polite to him, but he sensed a silent condemnation behind even her most innocent words. He constantly felt the need to prove himself in front of her. These frustrations often took the form of unwarranted rudeness on his part.

Serena struggled out of Mattie’s lap and went toward her father and tugged on his legs to be picked up. Ignoring the child and cutting short the greetings of the two women, he said coldly, “Ciel, I wanna talk to you.”

Sensing trouble, Mattie rose to go. “Ciel, why don’t you let me take Serena downstairs for a while. I got some ice cream for her.”

“She can stay right here,” Eugene broke in. “If she needs ice cream, I can buy it for her.”

Hastening to soften his abruptness, Ciel said, “That’s okay, Mattie, it’s almost time for her nap. I’ll bring her later—after dinner.”

“All right. Now you all keep good.” Her voice was warm. “You too, Eugene,” she called back from the front door.

The click of the lock restored his balance to him. “Why in the hell is she always up here?”

“You just had your chance—why didn’t you ask her yourself? If you don’t want her here, tell her to stay out,” Ciel snapped back confidently, knowing he never would.

“Look, I ain’t got time to argue with you about that old hag. I got big doings in the making, and I need you to help me pack.” Without waiting for a response, he hurried into the bedroom and pulled his old leather suitcase from under the bed.

A tight, icy knot formed in the center of Ciel’s stomach and began to melt rapidly, watering the blood in her legs so that they almost refused to support her weight. She pulled Serena back from following Eugene and sat her in the middle of the living room floor.

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