The Heart of a Woman - Maya Angelou [125]
He pulled me to him and wrapped his arms around me. “I love you, Mom. Maybe now you'll have a chance to grow up.”
A car horn honked outside. Guy opened the door and called. “Come on in. I'm ready.” Two Ghanaian young men leaped on the porch, shouting, and blustered into the room. When they saw me, they composed themselves.
I offered them a drink, a beer, some food. I wanted to delay the departure. All refused. They had to return the car to their uncle, and Guy had to begin his new life.
They shared Guy's possessions, trundling the boxes, grips and trunk into a new Mercedes Benz. Guy gave me one more squeeze, then they piled into the car and drove away.
I closed the door and held my breath. Waiting for the wave of emotion to surge over me, knock me down, take my breath away. Nothing happened. I didn't feel bereft or desolate. I didn't feel lonely or abandoned.
I sat down, still waiting. The first thought that came to me, perfectly formed and promising, was “At last, I'll be able to eat the whole breast of a roast chicken by myself.”
Poet, writer, performer, teacher, and director MAYA ANGELOU was raised in Stamps, Arkansas, and then moved to San Francisco. In addition to her bestselling autobiographies, beginning with I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings, she has also written a cookbook, Hallelujah! The Welcome Table, and five poetry collections, including I Shall Not Be Moved and Shaker, Why Don't You Sing?
Copyright © 1981 by Maya Angelou
All rights reserved.
Published in the United States by Random House Trade Paperbacks, an imprint of The Random House Publishing Group, a division of Random House, Inc., New York.
RANDOM HOUSE TRADE PAPERBACKS and colophon are trademarks of Random House, Inc.
Originally published in hardcover in the United States by Random House, an imprint of The Random House Publishing Group, a division of Random House, Inc., in 1981.
eISBN: 978-1-58836-924-6
www.atrandom.com
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Table of Contents
Cover
Other Books By This Author
Title Page
Dedication
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
Introduction
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
About the Author
Copyright