Mom & Me & Mom (Maya Angelou)

Je suis allée chercher ce livre à la bibliothèque le jour des 85 ans de Maya Angelou. Encore un de ces livres que j'ai dévoré. Il est très court et je l'ai terminé rapidement. Certaines anecdotes sont reprises de livres précédents, mais plus axées sur le rôle de Vivian Baxter, la mère de Maya Angelou. Une femme fascinante, cette Vivian : elle a été tour à tour infirmière, marin, gérante de maisons de jeux... Même si elle a « abandonné » ses enfants alors qu'ils étaient tout petits (3 ans pour Maya et 5 pour Bailey), consciente qu'elle n'aurait pas pu les élever correctement, elle tente de rattraper le temps perdu lorsque Bailey « devient trop grand pour le Sud ». Maya est très réticente à son égard au départ, mais finit par l'apprécier. Bailey, pourtant ravi de venir vivre en Californie, ne lui pardonnera jamais cet abandon.

Et pourtant :

Mother, Grandmother, and I waited at the railway station. Bailey descended from the train and saw me first. The smile that took over his face made me forget all the discomfort I had felt since coming to California.

His eyes found Grandmother and his smile changed to a grin, and he waved to her. Then he saw Mother and his response broke my heart. Suddenly he was a lost little boy who had been found at last. He saw his mother, his home, and then all his lonely birthdays were gone. His nights when scary things made noise under the bed were forgotten. He went to her as if hypnotized. She opened her arms and she clasped him into her embrace. I felt as if I had stopped breathing. My brother was gone, and he would never come back.

My mother had plans for the rest of her afternoon, so she gathered her wraps and we left the house together. We reached the middle of the block and were enveloped in the stinging acid aroma of vinegar from the pickle factory on the corner of Fillmore and Fulton streets. I had walked ahead. My mother stopped me and said, "Baby."

I walked back to her.

"Baby, I've been thinking and now I am sure. You are the greatest woman I've ever met."

I looked down at the pretty little woman, with her perfect makeup and diamond earrings, and a silver fox scarf. She was admired by most people in San Francisco's black community and even some whites liked and respected her.

She continued. "You are very kind and very intelligent and those elements are not always found together. Mrs Eleanor Roosevelt, Dr Mary McLeod Bethune and my mother— yes, you belong in that category. Here, give me a kiss."

Pas la peine d'en dire plus. J'aime toutes les autobiographies de Maya Angelou (bizarre d'écrire ça). Celle-ci est très courte, mais aussi passionnante à lire que les autres.

Plusieurs autres extraits dans cet article du Guardian :

http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2013/mar/30/maya-angelou-terrible-wonderful-mother

Comments

[petitsachem]

Ah! Maya Angelou, je suis encore sous la charme de ses récits...

[Nuku_Hiva95]

Tu l'as fini ? Ça tombe bien, je te le pique.