Page 37 - The Geography of Women

The Geography of Women 23

“She’s gonna die a shame,” Jessarose said. “I gotta tell
someone an I knew if I let you do what you wanted with
me this afternoon, cuz I wanted what you wanted, that
you would keep this secret too, cuz what we did is one way
a sealin pacts between us.”
“Tell me.”
“Promise?”
“Cross my heart an hope to die. Hope the cat spits in
my eye.”
“That little dead baby? Mister Apple wasn’t his daddy.”
“Go on!”
“I knew the minute when I first picked it up. It came
from a feelin I got lookin at that dead little boy, then
lookin at the Mister an Missus.”
“Tell me!” I said.
“I thought she tried to get rid a it by herself,” Jessarose
said.
“Get rid a it?”
“There’s ways. Ways that don’t even take a drugstore
man to help. But since the Mister is a drugstore man, what
I think now is he helped her.”
“Maybe he made her do it. My Grandma said some
men do terrible things.”
“No, child. Sometimes it’s more excuse than fair when
men get blamed for everythin. Mister Apple, well, it was
like he was protectin her from somethin that had invaded
her body, like a enemy that wasn’t supposed to be there, an
he didn’t like that somethin cuz it wasn’t his an he wanted
it outa her body cuz her body was supposed to be all his.”
“What you gonna do?”
“What can I do? What should I do? Sometimes doin
nothin is kinder n doin somethin.”
“It’ll just be our secret,” I said. Other secrets were

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