A Piece of Mine by J. California Cooper Read Free Book Online Page A

over … inside and outside. AHHH-hhhhhh-ohhhhhhhhh!
    Lord, Mr. Notebook … I don’t know. I guess this may be my last time writing in you now that Zalina is gone. She put all the life in me, she put all the life in you. I ain’t got no life of my own worth talking about. Just ain’t got no life of my own.
    I think about changing this name Zalina gave our baby from Mae B. to Zalina Two. No … no. I’m gonna leave her name to Mae B. Maybe some day … Mae B. just may be somebody on this earth and not just on your pages, Mr. Notebook. Cause, you know what, I’m going to teach her about how people can want you … can love you to death! Just use you up!
    But right now … I’m going outside and run with Mae B. and think of Zalina while this earth that holds her spins round under my feet.

Say What You Willomay!
    I ‘M telling you, say what you willomay, these mornings, early like this, is just too beautiful! People think that here in the country there ain’t nothing but boredom, day after day. But they wrong! These is big days following great big days! Lookit them trees down that road and that big fat cow over there! And that sun coming up! Now, ain’t that pretty?!
    And I’ll tell you something else! See that speck way down the road there? That’s Laylonny. Coming to wait for the bus to get to work, just like us. You new here so you don’t know her yet, but I remembers when she was born. Was a song out then bout Hawaii; Sweet Leilani! And Laylonny’s mama loved that song so she named her baby “Laylonny.” She couldn’t spell it the way they did so she spelled it “ L—A—Y—L—O—N—N—Y .” Now Leilani may mean “Heavenly Flowers,” but Laylonny must mean earthly flower! See what I mean?
    Anyway, Laylonny was a fine girl, grew up good, good to her mama and all and got married up with the Jackson boy when they was both young and thought they was in love. Say what you willomay, we all goes through it! But they lovedidn’t catch on and hold cause that boy took to beatin up on her! Yes, he did! Now the first three, four times he did that she just took it with a smile cause she didn’t know nothing yet, but after while, when she hafta be lookin at all them marks and bruises and a black eye or two for a week or more, she commence to understanding that that wasn’t no love to cleave to, so that girl packed her good sense up and left him!
    Well, honey, say what you willomay, some mens don’t know what life is all about. After she left, he commence to try to get her to let him kiss on some of them same spots, including her behind, but seem he had done beat and kicked em too much already for that so they never did get on no more! No! She moved back to her mama’s, who had done got down sick, and commence to taking care herself and her mama! Oh, I tell you, say what you willomay, she is a good woman!
    But you know what, it’s some strange things in this world. That girl’s mama didn’t like her no more! Don’t know was it because when that chile was young and she was raisin her, she had been a little wild, you know? And might not have liked to think her life was over and all the good times gone. Cause her daughter was so good lookin! And built so good! And still had some good times to look to. I don’t know, who knows bout people anyway? Do you?
    Well, anyway, the county was givin that girl some money to care for her mother and buy food and she was doing just that. But one day that damn fool woman told the visiting social lady that that girl didn’t do nothing round there and didn’t need no money. Well, they cut that stuff right off! The money! And that woman, Laylonny, had to get out of there and get a job AND go rushing home to take care of her mother, BOTH! And did it! Well, pretty soon it was pretty clear that Laylonny’s mother was going to die … and everybody commence to going over there doing what they could and mongst them was one or two fellows who could see howgood