Maya's grandparents are a biracial couple. Grandmother Baxter is mostly white and Grandfather is black. Grandma is a precinct captain and is associated with whiskey salesmen, numbers runners and gamblers. The children are sent to Toussaint L'Ouverture Grammar School. They are advanced in both math and reading, and Maya is moved up a grade. She credits Uncle Willie and boredom as the reason she excels. They rarely see their mother during this time, although she occasionally asks them to meet her at a local bar. There they watch mom dance and learn the time step, the origin of black dances. Maya learns to dance with the same determination with which she had learned her times tables. Vivian and her friends' laughter have the same effect on her as Uncle Willie and the stove.
Mother's.....
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