My Louisiana Sky by Kimberly Willis Holt

Author:Kimberly Willis Holt
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Henry Holt and Co. (BYR)
Published: 1998-05-15T00:00:00+00:00

Twelve

All I could think about on the ride home from Alec was living with Aunt Dorie Kay. A different school would give me a chance to make new friends. No one in Baton Rouge knew about Momma and Daddy.

“What’s Baton Rouge like?” I asked.

“Oh, Tiger. You’ll love it. The stores put Alexandria’s to shame. And Louisiana State University is near my apartment. We could get tickets to a football game. You haven’t seen football until you see the Fighting Tigers play.”

I’d never seen any football game. Basketball and baseball were the only sports played in Saitter.

Aunt Dorie Kay gazed out the window as she drove along the highway. Her voice sounded dreamy when she spoke of Baton Rouge. For the first time I realized that she didn’t think of Saitter as her hometown. She must have traded Saitter in for the excitement of Baton Rouge a long time ago.

“My apartment is a few minutes from downtown.” She took a deep breath, then said, “I’ll take you to the capitol and introduce you to my boss, Uncle Earl.” Uncle Earl was a nickname for Governor Earl K. Long.

Aunt Dorie Kay continued, “Baton Rouge has beautiful parks. Maybe we can picnic at some of them.”

She made everything sound like an adventure, but one thing weighed heavy on my mind. “What about Momma and Daddy? They aren’t going to want me to leave them.”

Aunt Dorie Kay glanced in the rearview mirror as she tapped her red fingernails on the steering wheel. “You leave that to me.”

“But how will you convince them?”

She turned and drove over the railroad tracks, passing my school. “Well, for one thing, Tiger, if you lived with me you could go to a private school.”

“Doesn’t that cost a lot of money?” I swallowed, hoping my question didn’t sound dumb.

She patted my head with quick gentle taps. “You don’t need to worry about that. I have friends in the right places. This isn’t a good time to tell your momma, though. We need to wait until she gets back on her feet. One step at a time, I always say. Meanwhile you stay busy working at the nursery, and I’m going to send Magnolia down here to help out.”

“Who?”

“Magnolia, my colored maid. She’ll be hard to convince, but maybe if she knows it’s only for the summer. By then your momma should be back to norm—” She glanced my way. “Her regular self. I have an idea. How would you like to go back to Baton Rouge with me to get Magnolia? You could stay a couple of days and get a taste of your new life.”

My new life. I loved the sound of those words. Then guilt faded my joy. “But what about Momma?”

“Miz Eula can look in on her in the day,” she said, “and your daddy is home at night.” I thought about Miz Eula’s messy house and how Granny must be rolling in her grave. But there was nothing in the world I wanted more than to visit Aunt Dorie Kay in Baton Rouge.

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