@@@@@"She's my Mammy, too, Scarlett The 426
@@@@@"She's my
Mammy, too, Scarlett The life-long jealousies and cruelties between
them were forgotten in their joint need to help the old black woman
They brought down all the pillows in the house to prop her up, and
kept
the croup kettle steaming constantlyThey spread butter on her
cracked lips, spooned sips of water between themBut nothing eased
Mammy's strugglesShe looked at them with pity"Don't wear
yo'selves out," she gasped Scarlett p,ut her
fingers across Mammy's lips Why, oh why, she raged silently to God, why
couldn't You let her die easy, when she was wandering in the past?
Why
did You have to wake her up and let her suffer so? She was good all
her life, always doing for other people, never anything for herself
She deserves better than this, I'll never bow my head to You again as
long as I liveBut she read aloud to Mammy from the worn old Bible
on
the nightstand by the bedShe read the psalms, and her voice gave
no
sign of the pain and impious anger in her heartWhen night came,
Suellen lit the lamp and took over from Scarlett, reading, turning the
thin pages, readingThen Scarlett took her placeAnd again Suellen,
until Will sent her to get some rest"You, too, Scarlett," he said
"I'll sit with MammyI'm not much of a reader, but I know a lot of
the Bible by heartBut I'm not leaving Mammy She sat on
the floor and leaned her tired back against the wall, listening to the
terrifying sounds of deathWhen the first thin light of day showed at
the windows, the sounds suddenly became different, each breath more
noisy, longer silences between themScarlett scrambled to her feet
Will rose from the chair"I'll get Suellen," he said
Scarlett took his place beside the be
