Watts crossed to stand behind Ann and lift her out of her chair. “He’s waiting for your embrace and kiss.”
Ann turned away, “Oh God no....I can’t....please....I honestly can’t.”
Watts spun her to face him and slapped her so hard her head flew back. Her face was fiery red where his hand had struck her. “You are forgetting your purpose, Mrs. Gardner. You’re forgetting three hundred and fifty years of slavery. You’re forgetting the countless whippings and rapes, the thousands of lynchings, the endless poverty and humiliation, the terrifying abuse even after slavery ended.” She started to step back, but he grabbed her arms threw her onto the chair. Leaning over her, his face livid, he continued, “For hundreds of years pretty young women like you, most of them with husbands, were forced to su
