I assume you are talking about Bailey and Marguerite's move to St. Louis from Stamps (as "moping" seems to weak a word for the post-rape trauma.)  Maya in particular takes the move hard.  It was not easy for her to leave everyone and everything she had ever loved.  

The  new sense of empowerment that Maguerite acquires coms from watching her grandmother and her uncle's wield power over the residents of their neighborhood.  "Bibi" and the uncles are feared and respected, a marked contrast from the humiliation her grandmother and uncle had endured in Stamps. 

Maguerites new social statues buoys her spirits, though it will not last long, as Mr. Freeman (Vivian's boyfriend) will soon take advantage of the young girl and destroy any sense of stability she may have been nuturing.