time he ever saw her.
âGo play,â his grandmother said.
The boy vanished.
The grandmother was scarcely five feet tall. She had skin the color of coffee and eyes the color of a midnight sky. She wore a loose-fitting white dress and sandals. She came over and sat on the couch, careful not to wrinkle the new yellow spread when she sat down.
âI do not want you to go,â she said.
âI have already told him I will.â
âIt does not matter, Teresa, what you told him.â
âHe is expecting me.â
âYour children are expecting you.â
âThey love you. They will be happy you are around them.â
âCan you imagine what the priest will say?â
âHe will say nothing to me.â
âOh?â
âVictor does not believe in priests. He does not want me to see the priest.â
âItâs terrible what you do.â
âItâs not. I will lose my looks in a few years. Then I will have only regrets.â
âI have had three daughters.â
âYes.â
âAnd I should be thankful.â
âThankful, yes. For our good health.â
âAnd for one other thing, too.â
âWhat?â
There was craft and malice in the old womanâs gaze. âOnly one of them turned out to be a whore.â
Teresa flushed. âYou do not understand.â
âYou think I was not young once, Teresa, as you are youngâand beautiful, as you are beautiful?â
âIt is different in the modem world, Mama.â
âHe made you take down the picture of the Virgin?â âYes.â
âAnd he does not want you to see a priest?â
âNo, he does not want me to see a priest.â
âAnd he wants you to leave your children?â
Teresa said nothing. She did not want to be called a whore again.
âDoes this not tell you about the man, Teresa? About what is in this manâs heart?â
âHeâs a good man.â
âIn bed he may be good. No other place.â
âWe will be back often.â
âYou donât really believe that. I can see the lie in your face, Teresa.â She wrung her brown hands. âYou are so stupid.â
âHe loves me.â
The old woman scoffed. âHe puts gaudy dresses on your back. He makes you promises. He puts his seed in you. These things are not love.â
âHe said we will live in a fine house in St. Louis.â
âYou are forgetting your cousin Donna.â
At mention of the name, Teresa lowered her head. âHe is not like the man Donna was with.â
âOh, no? And what makes him different, Teresa? What makes him different?â
âVictor is a man of honor.â
âSo was her man until he got tired of her. And do you remember what he did then?â
âPlease. You know how I hate to talk about it.â
âHe threw fire in her face so that she would be in agony and no other man would ever want her. He could not even give her the rest of her life, a chance to live well without him. He would not even do this much for her. So he burned her.â
âPlease.â
âDo you know how she lives today?â
âI know.â
âShe lives in the cellar of her parentsâ basement because she looks so horrible that no one can stand to set eyes on her.â
âHe is not like this.â
âOh, no. He is a most honorable man. He makes you take down the picture of the Virgin, and he persuades you to leave your children.â
She got up and walked across the room to where Teresa sat in a chair. She slapped her very hard across the side of the face.
Teresa began sobbing.
âBecause he puts his seed in you does not mean he loves you, Teresa.â
The old woman shook her head sadly, then went out the door and down the steps to play with her grandchildren in the sunlight.
Chapter Twenty
The referee was a man named Macatee. Stoddard had requested a man named Simek but Simek was
Maggie Brendan
Barbara O'Connor
Jan Washburn
Terri Blackstock
Norah Simone
Barry Kemp
G.P. Taylor
Alan Cumyn
Linda Barnes
Lisa Jackson