CHAPTET 22
DIRT UNDER HER NAILS
**BETTY’S POV**
The moon was high enough to cast a thin strip of silver light across the floorboards, and I sat beside the window with my knees pulled against my chest, staring down at my hands.
The dirt was still packed beneath my nails. I hadn’t washed it away yet, and I wasn’t sure I wanted to.
Outside, the trees moved gently in the night breeze, their leaves brushing against one another with a soft rustling sound. Somewhere beneath those trees, close to the old fence, was the little grave I had dug earlier that day. Every time I closed my eyes, I saw the animal’s face — that one good eye staring at me, the way its breathing had slowed, the way it seemed to understand that I was there even though I couldn’t know whether it actually did.
My throat t
