Leaving Serenity Read Free Page A

right back.”
    I jumped at the sound of her voice and let go of the candy stick. It fell and broke into tiny pieces on the big floor. I looked around at Beth’s red lips wrapped around her peppermint stick. Her brown eyes we re happy.
    “Please excuse my daughter’s clumsiness, Cora. How much do I owe you for that?”
    The red glow rose in Mrs. Sneed’s cheeks, but she wasn’t smiling when she answered Mama. “Not a thing. You have a good day, Mrs. Bevels.”
    Mama snapped her beaded change purse closed. “And you too, Cora. Put the meat on our account, please.”
    Mama’s fingers pressed into the soft spot in our backs as she led us out of the store. The boys jumped off the crates and threw their apple cores into a barrel when Mama stepped off the green tiled stoop outside the grocery store.
    “Come along, children. The b akery closes at eleven.”
    The Bakery
    Malone’s Bakery smelled like heaven to me. I drooled over the doughnuts behind the glass while Mr. Malone wrapped the bread and dinner rolls for Mama.
    Bouncing up and down, I begged, “Mama, can we have a doughnut? Please? Please?” Mama looked at me, purse d her lips, and shook her head.
    I watched Mr. Malone’s large tummy move back and forth as he walked back to the counter. His deep, husky voice filled the store. “No worries, Mrs. Bevels. They’re on the house!”
    He pulled the big tray of shiny, glazed d oughnuts from behind the glass.
    Adam reached for a doughnut first. He smiled at me and said, “Gee, thanks, Mr. Malone.”
    Beth and I sang out , “Thank you!”
    The doughnut squished in my mouth, warm and gooey. It made my head tingle. Outside, Mama lined us up on the bench in front of the bakery. She breathed hard in our faces and tried to clean our hands with a Kle enex that stuck to our fingers.
    She fussed at me. “Annette, I don’t know why I let you talk me into such things!”
    The Drug Store
    I giggled at Jack who worked at the soda fountain counter. His eyes moved from me to the scoops of ice cream he threw into the air. Jack wobbled and danced to keep from missing the milkshake cup. A row of wrinkle s gathered between Mama’s eyes.
    “Hush and eat your hotdog!” she snapped at me before taking a bite from her hotdog.
    Adam poked at his Cherry Coke float with a red-and-white striped straw. “Yeah, he’s just white trash showing off. But Annette’s too stupid to know that.”
    Mama wiped her mouth and talked quietly into the paper napkin. “Mind your manners, Son.”
    Adam roll ed his eyes and snicker ed at me, and then at Jack . I kep t my eyes on the boy with the milkshake cup. He w ore a paper hat and ha d freckles across his nose. He winked at me, and I smile d at him around my hotdog.
    The Beauty Parlor
    Beth and I played hopscotch on the squares of the pink and white linoleum floor while Miss Ruby put the big silver dryer bowl over Mama’s rolled up hair. I thought that Miss Ruby was the most beautiful person in Serenity. Her eyelids we re bright blue and her thick, black eyelashes we re so long that she look ed like she wa s winking all the time. But the best thing I liked about Miss Ruby was her hair. She had the brightest yellow hair, just like my Chatty Cathy doll.
    Miss Ruby’s white shoe pumped the bar under her chair to let it down so that my brother could climb in. Then, she pumped it up again and swirled him around. The pink and white chair sparkled as it spun around.
    Miss Ruby got tickled when Adam wobbled his head and made silly faces. “Wheee! How d o you like that, little buddy?”
    Adam’s endearing, cobalt blue eyes beamed up at Miss Ruby. “That’s swell! Hey, can you give me a flat top like Daddy’s?”
    Miss Ruby pointed at Adam and yelled at Mama over the roar of the hair dryer. “That’s a good boy you have here, Shirley. He wants to be just like his Daddy!”
    Mama glanced over the Look magazine in her hands and turned up her lips. Miss Ruby shaved the side of my brother’s head with