Maia crept down the stairs on bare feet, wearing her powder-blue nightgown. Her sister, Imani, was upstairs brushing her teeth for bed. Maia hoped to get away without brushing hers. Her mother and father were sitting in the living room, talking in hushed tones.
Maia snuck down the stairs, staying close to the wall and out of sight. She walked as quietly as she could to the kitchen. Then she headed down the back hallway to her grandmother’s room. She knew her grandmother was awake because she could hear the television blaring through the door. Maia knocked quietly at first. Then she listened, waiting for an answer. When none came, she knocked again a little louder.
Beneath the sound of a laugh track, she swore she heard her grandmother say something. Maia twisted the doorknob and pushed
