Chapter 4
Chapter 4
Momma did not ask how or why I got black eyes and a busted lip. Maybe she didn’t really want to know. Maybe she knew but was afraid to say anything. I had never seen Daddy beat her, but I did see him slap her once. She didn’t question anything. She just held the cold compress to my head while tears trickled slowly down her face.
When Momma went back to the kitchen to put some fresh ice in the wash rag that she had been holding to my head, Teddy sat down at the foot of the bed and said, “I told you he was an asshole.”
“He’s not an asshole,” I said. “I defiled the church. I deserved what I got.”
“He’s a hypocrite!” Teddy insisted. “He wants everybody to follow the rules he is not willing to follow. He thinks he has the right to tell the whole world how to live.”
“He
