Saving Cicadas Read Online Free PDF

down on it. Then I remembered I’d left my list of pros and cons—and my poor pregnant mother—in the other room with the meanest, most unhelpful woman on the face of the earth. Some daughter I was. No wonder Mama was so upset about having another baby. Who wouldn’t, with a child like me?

Chapter Six

THE WIND AND THE HOLLOW
    By the time I woke up, it was lunchtime. I stood in front of the dresser mirror and stared at the red hand mark pressed in the side of my face from lying on it. I tucked my hair behind my ears and stumbled to the kitchen where I found my mother mashing hard-boiled eggs like a maniac. There were three cartons on the counter, all open.
    My grandmother was leaning on her elbows, smiling, but not in a nice way. “There’s a sandwich in the fridge for you,” she said. “Or two. Or three.”
    My mother was mashing, mashing away, and I couldn’t imagine eating all these eggs, but I didn’t ask. She stopped long enough to open the refrigerator door and pull out a gallon of milk and an egg salad sandwich on wheat bread, cut into halves lengthwise. She set it in front of me. The Young and the Restless was on in the other room, and I watched a little through the doorway while I nibbled. This one man was crying on his knees while this lady stood over him, seeming happy about it.
    Mama went back to egg mashing.
    â€œThat’s a lot of eggs,” I said.
    Grandma Mona piped up. “Apparently they were on special. Can’t you see?”
    Mama picked up the jar of mayonnaise and scooped a spoonful, plopping it in. Then she squeezed the mustard, which made farting noises, spitting a glob out now and again. “Dang, dang, dangit,” she said. Her face scrunched up like she might cry. She bit her lip and turned away from me, resting her chin on her shoulder.
    â€œYou okay?” I asked.
    Still looking away, she said, “I’m out of mustard. I can’t do this.” Her shoulders started to shake. She grabbed the big bowl, wrapped some cellophane on top with a fury and said, “Well, I’ll just go to the store and get some. You have a problem, Priscilla, you just go take care of it. No big deal.” She was talking to herself the whole time cleaning up.
    â€œI can walk to the store if you want, Mama.”
    She looked at me as if she’d forgotten I was here.
    â€œNo, no,” Grandma Mona shooed at me. “Obviously she needs to get out of the house. I’ll go with her.”
    â€œYou really shouldn’t do that. I mean, really. You shouldn’t do that.”
    â€œI’m her mother.”
    â€œRainey?” Mama called. “Rainey, going to the store. Back in a few minutes!”
    â€œWhen you’re done, Janie, why don’t you go check on your sister?” said Grandma Mona. “She’s in the backyard. Been out there for a while.”
    â€œOkay,” I grumbled. Mama slung her huge brown leather purse over her shoulder and grabbed her keys from the hook next to the door. I heard her sigh. Then they were gone.
    The bread was a little soggy, so I scraped out the egg salad with a fork. Eggs. Chicken eggs. Little baby chickens.
    I pushed the plate away and looked at all the egg cartons staring at me with their empty cradles.
    Pregnant.
    I just couldn’t believe there was something growing inside my mother. The back of my neck grew hot, so I picked up a glass of milk. Milk. Kids need milk. Babies need milk.
    I had to get out of there. I wasn’t even hungry.
    Our backyard was a small patch of yellow grass, scorched from Mama’s overfertilizing and lack of sprinklers, and then there was a great big oak tree surrounded by a chain-link fence. The tree was completely hollow. The only reason we kept it was because it would cost too much money to take it down, and it was leaning away from the house. Mama being so pretty, Mr. Rufus down at the hardware store offered to take it down for next to