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boy. If I hadn't panicked, if I had waited for Gladys
Tate instead of sending Henry for Mama, Henry's
family wouldn't be destitute. I deserve to be
miserable, I thought. Somehow, I make everyone else
more miserable.
Mama saw the regret and guilt in my face and
knew I was suffering remorse. "If she said the boy
wouldn't tell anyone, he won't," she told Gladys.
"Becoming hysterical over everything isn't going to
help the situation right now."
"I am not hysterical," Gladys insisted in a raspy
whisper, but her eyes still looked like two hot coals. Mania shook her head. "I don't want Gabriel
upset at this juncture. I want her to have a clear mind
and concentrate. If indeed the baby's coming, we ain't
out of the woods. Not by a long shot," she said, and
for the first time, Gladys considered the baby's wellbeing rather than her own.
"Something can happen to my baby?" she asked
anxiously.
"A baby crosses from one world into another.
Nature pushes him out of the safe, happy one and into
this turmoil. The road's always fraught with some
danger. We don't need to add any of our own to it." Suddenly Gladys Tate's eyes became two slits.
The blood rushed to the surface of her cheeks and her
shoulders lifted. She looked from Mama to me and
then to Mama again, shaking her head very slowly as
she took a step back. Then her smile came crooked
and mean, her cold brown eyes shooting devilish
electric sparks.
"You want the baby to die, don't you?" she said,
nodding to validate her own suspicions. "Sure. You
