A Piece of Heaven Read Online Free PDF Page B

speaking.”
    “Hi, Sylvia. It’s Haley Moon.”
    There was a pause. I drew in a breath.
    “How are you?” asked Sylvia.
    “We’re okay. I’m calling about my mother. Did you see her?”
    “I peeked in on her this morning. I heard that she was upstairs when I came in today,” said Sylvia. I glanced at Otis, who by this time was standing next to me.
    “Is she okay?”
    “She’s in good hands,” said Sylvia.
    I breathed a sigh of relief.
    “Someone in the office wangled her a private room,” Sylvia said. “I’ll look up the number.”
    “Ma has a telephone number of her own,” I whispered to Otis. “Get something to write with.”
    Otis found a pen on the cluttered table and tore off a piece of brown paper bag. When Sylvia came back on the line, I wrote down the number.
    “Thanks, Sylvia.”
    “Are you kids okay over there? Is somebody with you?”
    “We have our neighbor, Mrs. Brown,” I replied. “Her daughter used to baby-sit me.”
    “Nice to have neighbors like that,” said Sylvia. “I’ll reassure your ma when I see her that you kids are doing just fine.”
    “I think I’ll call Ma myself now,” I said. “Thanks for everything, Sylvia.”
    I clicked down the phone.
    “Feel better?” asked Otis.
    I nodded. “Let’s call her now,” I said eagerly.
    Otis lowered his eyes. “You go ahead. I don’t want to talk to her.”
    “How come?”
    “I just don’t,” Otis said firmly.
    I tried Ma’s number. The phone rang and rang. “Maybe she’s still asleep,” I said nervously. She answered just as I was about to give up.
    “Hello?” Her voice was so soft that I hardly recognized it.
    “Ma? It’s me!” I heard a sniff on the other end of the line.
    “You said that you were going to call us last night. I was worried,” I went on.
    “I was going to call you, precious,” she said in a slightly stronger voice. “You and Otis doing all right?”
    “We’re fine,” I assured her.
    “Did you sleep at Mrs. Brown’s?”
    “I’m allergic to cats, Ma. Don’t tell me you forgot, too?”
    There was a long pause.
    “What did the doctor say?” I jumped in. “When are you coming home?”
    She sighed. “Could be a few weeks.”
    A wave of panic washed over me. A few weeks! I had figured she’d only be gone a couple of days. “Aren’t there some pills you can take?”
    “He has me on something,” she said flatly. Then her voice rose. “Promise you’ll listen to Mrs. Brown.”
    “Okay,” I said. “Can we visit?”
    She drew in a breath. “Yes. You’re old enough.”
    “When are visiting hours?” I asked.
    “Three o’ clock, I think.” She sighed. “Put your brother on.”
    I turned around to look for Otis. But he was gone.
    “I—I can’t find him,” I stuttered. “I’m going to come and see you. Okay?”
    She burst into tears. “I have to go, sweetheart. Be strong.”
    I was still holding the receiver when Otis walked back into the room.
    “Where were you?” I asked. “She wanted to speak to you.”
    “In the bathroom,” he said with a shrug. “How does she sound?”
    I hung my head. “Still upset. She didn’t even say good-bye to me. The doctor did give her some pills,” I added hopefully. “We can go see her at three o’ clock.”
    “Not me,” said Otis. “I’ve got work to do.”
    “You’re not going to visit Ma?” I was dumbfounded. “Suppose she wants to see you?”
    “I don’t care,” Otis said, setting his jaw. “I don’t want to see my mother acting stupid like that, crying over a stupid squash.”
    “I don’t understand you, Otis,” I complained.
    “The best thing we can do for Ma is to clean this place up,” he said, pointing to the mess in the apartment. “And I have to work. Who knows how much money she has in the bank?”
    “She hid some of the bills,” I said in a worried voice.
    “See what I mean?” said Otis. “We got to let the doctor take care of Ma. We got to take care of us.”
    “You talk as if she’s