A Piece of Heaven Read Online Free PDF Page A

mouth went dry. “You’re going to work?”
    “Not to work,” she said, catching her breath. “I have to get help.”
    “She needs a doctor!” Mrs. Brown’s voice clanged over the din.
    Suddenly, Nirvana was next to me. “Don’t worry, Haley,” she said softly. “We’ll take care of you while your mother’s gone.”
    “She ain’t going nowhere!” Otis said angrily.
    I clutched Ma’s hand. She looked at me helplessly. “See that?” she asked, pointing to one of the vegetables. It was a cooked butternut squash, split open in a baking pan. A jumble of white seeds lay nestled in the heart of its dark orange flesh.
    “You see that?” said Ma, her voice rising. “That’s me, Haley!”
    I blinked. “No, it’s not.”
    “That’s me,” she insisted.
    Otis put his hands over his ears. “Shut up!”
    “I can’t work things out anymore,” Ma said, struggling to speak through her tears. “I feel like the jumble of seeds in that squash.” She looked away. “Forgive me, Haley. It’ll just be for a little while.”
    “Things will be okay,” Mrs. Brown said, helping Ma up.
    They walked across to the closet and got out the suitcase.
    “How long will you be gone?” I cried, following her.
    “It won’t be long,” Mrs. Brown said, answering for Ma.
    “Ma?” I clung to her elbow as she reached for her clothes. “You can’t just leave us like this!”
    Her face crumpled. “Try to be patient, darling.”
    She crossed to the dresser, opened the top drawer, and took out her pay envelope. She pressed what was left in it, a twenty-dollar bill, into Mrs. Brown’s hand. “Use this if they need something,” she said. “There are plenty of groceries.”
    Mrs. Brown took the money and nodded.
    “Why are you so sad, Ma?” I asked, crowding up close. Otis stood slouching near by.
    “Snap out of it, Ma,” he begged. “It’s just a stupid birthday cake. It’s just a stupid squash.”
    “Do you miss Grandma Dora, Ma?” I whimpered. “Is that why you’re crying?”
    Ma squeezed her eyes shut. “I have to do this,” she whispered fiercely. “Otis, take care of your sister. Now, leave me alone.…”

CHAPTER THREE
    I lay scrunched up on my bed, waiting for the phone to ring. It was another stifling night. A fly had gotten in and was buzzing around the ceiling near the light. Ma had said that she’d call us, but she hadn’t. Nirvana had offered to sleep over in the apartment with us, but Otis had said no way. Then Mrs. Brown had asked me if I wanted to sleep over with them. I couldn’t, because of her cats. She seemed to have forgotten that I was allergic to them. After all that had happened, I had no desire to itch and wheeze all night long and turn into one giant pimple. So it was just Otis and me.
    The first thing my brother did after the Browns left was to go out and buy ice cream. Oddly enough, ice cream was the one thing Ma seemed to have forgotten to buy. Maybe she had had a premonition about the doomed cake. Along with the ice cream, my brother also brought back a tiny television!
    “Where’d you get that?” I asked in amazement. Our own television had been broken for ages; Ma had stored it in the back of the closet.
    “I borrowed it from a friend of mine,” Otis said, setting it on the floor. He plugged it in while I dished out the ice cream. Then the two of us camped out in front of it.
    “What’s your friend’s name?” I asked.
    “Reggie,” he replied. “He’s the one with the incense stand.” Otis patted my knee. “I thought you might like it. Get your mind off things.”
    “Thanks, Otis,” I said, scooting closer.
    He turned to a nighttime talk show. Otis laughed at a guy telling jokes, but I couldn’t make myself follow him. There was this sick feeling in the pit of my stomach. I picked at my ice cream. “Why isn’t she calling us?”
    “More than likely, it’s too late,” Otis said, keeping his eyes glued to the screen. “She’ll call us in the