“You can’t come back here. You can’t come back here!” she almost shouted.
“Or what?” I said. “What are you so afraid of, Tara?”
Tara shrank against the wall.
“But you’re not really scared, are you? Just nervous, that’s all. Go ahead, look at my bruises. Touch them. And my welts. Yes, that’s it. It’s okay, stroke them. See, nothing to be scared of. I’m fine. No reason to be scared. And you’re not. Not at all. In fact, you’re very brave.”
“What...What’re you talking about?”
“It’s so obvious, isn’t it?” I said, smooth as silk. “No one wanted to wait on us, but you did. You didn’t care what people thought. And then you just kept coming back, making sure everything was fine, no matter how many frowns you got from others. You know what’s right, don’t you, Tara? People are people, straight,
