Read Online Last Summer with Maizon by Jacqueline Woodson - Free Book Online

further and further apart. The closeness she had felt a moment ago was gone.
    â€œIt’s going to take time, Margaret. Everything will fall into place. But it’s going to take time.”
    Margaret hugged her. “We have a lot of time, Mama.”

12
    â€œI t must be scary for Maizon up there,” Grandma said. She sat in her armchair gazing out the window. In the early October wind, yellow and gold leaves pressed themselves for quick moments to the window, then hurried off again.
    â€œGuess it must seem to her like a long time ago she was smart,” Ms. Dell said. She sat across from Grandma on the overstuffed couch. “Now she’s just one of a lot of smart girls caught up there in that Connecticut school, inching along. Guess it’s hard no longer being the smartest one ...”
    â€œShe’s still probably the smartest one,” Margaret said.
    Ms. Dell shook her head. “She’d have dropped us some kind of note if that was the case. Here it is already a month and some weeks gone by.”
    â€œAren’t you worried, Grandma? Maybe something happened.”
    Grandma continued to gaze out the window. When she finally spoke, her voice was soft. “When I took Maizon to Connecticut, it seemed like what she wanted most was for me to leave so she could be on her own. So I left quickly. You know how Maizon is, Margaret. She’s an individualist. I can’t say she’s a loner, because she needs people so much. And I know I spoil her. So I left and waited for her to call. I waited a week, then I called Blue Hill to see if there was anything wrong. They said everything was fine and Maizon was adjusting. I thought I should leave her to her adjusting and wait to hear from her. Sometimes I want to just go there and surprise her but I think that would be the wrong thing to do. I miss her so.”
    Margaret felt her chest press down and rise up in her throat. “How could she just forget about us? It’s like she doesn’t even remember me. I keep writing and writing . . .”
    â€œIt’s hard up there, Margaret,” Ms. Dell’said reassuringly. “We thought Maizon forgot too.”
    Grandma nodded in agreement and Ms. Dell continued. “We thought what need does Maizon have with two old ladies—one who raised her, one who just raised eyes at her. But then after we talked some, thought about things a little, it made some sense to us. No, Margaret, she ain’t the smartest girl no more. And you know Maizon. It’s going to have to be a little snow on the ground in July before she let on that she ain’t.”
    â€œShe should just come home,” Margaret said.
    â€œHattie found a job yesterday,” Ms. Dell said quickly.
    Margaret looked at her. Why was she changing the subject? “Say she gonna go back to school at night, get some degree or another.”
    â€œThat would be nice,” Grandma said. “Real nice.” She turned to Margaret. “Maizon would think she failed all of us if she came home—”
    â€œI wouldn’t care,” Margaret cut in. “If she hated that school and wanted to leave it, she should....” Her voice trailed off.
    â€œMaizon has to find her own way, Margaret,” Grandma said.
    â€œHow are those new tenants?” Ms. Dell asked.
    â€œSomebody else lives in this house now?” Margaret looked up. “Where? Who?”
    â€œOn the third floor,” Grandma said. “I rented that apartment to a nice young man and his wife. You know Bettie. I made her wedding dress. No sense in staying in this big old house all alone.”
    â€œThe money will be a help, I suppose.”
    Grandma waved her hand. “My husband provided for me. But those sounds, you know?”
    Ms. Dell nodded. “Sounds of emptiness. Oh, do I know. Floors creaking and nobody walking on them. Windows falling shut after being open for days. Make you crazy!”
    Margaret leaned