"They was burnin' down my school. Didn't know why at the time; jus' that none'a the children showed up that mornin', an' Trout Walker came leadin' in a lynch mob, callin' me a Devil Woman, sayin' I'd been poisonin' their children's minds. I'd rejected Trout not too long before, an' he weren't used t'people sayin' no t'him. So when they started pilin' the books an' tables in the middle'a the room, settin' 'em on fire ...
"I ran t'the sheriff an' told 'im t'stop 'em before they destroyed the whole school. He told me not t'say nothin' bad 'bout Trout Walker. Called me pretty. Told me t'kiss 'im. He was drunk as a skunk; said he always got drunk 'fore a hangin'. That's when I figured out someone had seen Sam an' I kissin' the day before, told Trout, an' — sheriff said if I could kiss 'the onion picker', why couldn't I kiss him? Said he'd make me deal; one sweet kiss an' he wouldn't hang my boyfriend. He grabbed me, an' I remember feelin' my stomach in my boots. This awful light an' queasy feelin', like I weren't no longer in my body. I wrenched myself away t'find Sam, but — we didn't make it far.
"When I ran, he said, 'the law will punish Sam, an' God will punish you.' He was right. Sam died, an' I've — I've been wishin' I was dead ever since. That — feelin'; that horrible, floatin', helpless feelin' — s'what I felt when I got that note, an' them things. If I was prepared t'stop bein' a bitch, we could have 'makeup sex', so long as I let him on top'a me. That's what it said. I felt the sheriff's hands all over me, all over again."
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"They was burnin' down my school. Didn't know why at the time; jus' that none'a the children showed up that mornin', an' Trout Walker came leadin' in a lynch mob, callin' me a Devil Woman, sayin' I'd been poisonin' their children's minds. I'd rejected Trout not too long before, an' he weren't used t'people sayin' no t'him. So when they started pilin' the books an' tables in the middle'a the room, settin' 'em on fire ...
"I ran t'the sheriff an' told 'im t'stop 'em before they destroyed the whole school. He told me not t'say nothin' bad 'bout Trout Walker. Called me pretty. Told me t'kiss 'im. He was drunk as a skunk; said he always got drunk 'fore a hangin'. That's when I figured out someone had seen Sam an' I kissin' the day before, told Trout, an' — sheriff said if I could kiss 'the onion picker', why couldn't I kiss him? Said he'd make me deal; one sweet kiss an' he wouldn't hang my boyfriend. He grabbed me, an' I remember feelin' my stomach in my boots. This awful light an' queasy feelin', like I weren't no longer in my body. I wrenched myself away t'find Sam, but — we didn't make it far.
"When I ran, he said, 'the law will punish Sam, an' God will punish you.' He was right. Sam died, an' I've — I've been wishin' I was dead ever since. That — feelin'; that horrible, floatin', helpless feelin' — s'what I felt when I got that note, an' them things. If I was prepared t'stop bein' a bitch, we could have 'makeup sex', so long as I let him on top'a me. That's what it said. I felt the sheriff's hands all over me, all over again."