The girl threw her backpack at her mother's feet. 'What my mama say happened?'
'She didn't say. She's trying to protect you.'
The girl's look at Sims was bitter and accusatory. 'Yeah,' she said in a monotone, 'she's really good at that.'
Inwardly, Terri recoiled from the emotions she had unleashed between this mother and daughter. But there was no time for regret. 'What about you?' she asked. 'Do you want to protect the next child Eddie Fleet comes after?'
The girl looked from her mother to Terri. 'Don't do this, baby,' Sims implored.
The girl faced Terri, a smile of anger and reprisal playing across her lips. 'What you want to hear about?' she asked. 'The first time, or the last?'
* * *
Betty Sims worked as a secretary. Though she was only ten, Lacy had a key to the apartment, to let herself in after school. The other person with a key was Eddie Fleet.
That day—the one she still had dreams about—Lacy opened the door and found Eddie lying on the couch, dressed in nothing but boxer shorts, the pupils of his eyes like pinholes.
'Hey, sweet pea,' he said softly.
Embarrassed, Lacy turned away.
She heard Fleet stretching lazily on the couch, emitting a silken yawn. 'Don't need to be so bashful, Lacy. Ain't you seen a man before?'
Lacy did not answer. Quickly, she went to her room and shut the door behind her.
Sitting at the desk, she tried to brush aside the unease she felt, the sense of vulnerability. She opened her history book, staring at the chapter on Egypt.
The door opened behind her.
She did not turn. 'What you doin'?' Fleet asked.
Reluctantly, she faced him. 'Homework.'
' 'Homework'?' he repeated. 'What a girl need with that? Homework's what I give your mama whenever I'm in the mood for it.'
Lacy knew—she could hear them through the walls. Seemed like Fleet liked her mother to scream; some nights Lacy willed herself to be in another place.
Now her stomach felt queasy. 'Well,' she said, 'my homework's on Egypt. Got to do it.'
Fleet's smile was so benign that it scared her. 'Time for some other lesson,' he said easily. 'I'll be the teacher, you be my pupil.'
He began walking toward her. Lacy saw the surface of his boxer shorts stirring and knew that no one else could save her. 'Don't want no lessons,' she said tightly.
Fleet's eyes turned brighter. 'You do, child. You just don't know it yet.'
She stood, backing away. 'I'll tell my mama.'
Fleet laughed softly. 'No, you won't. Your mama knows when to open her mouth, and when to close it. That's what I'm gonna teach you.'
Lacy began trembling. 'You know what good pupils do?' Fleet inquired. 'They get down on their knees, and say please. That be how the teacher knows it's time.'
She felt his hands on her shoulders. Half-staggering, she fell to her knees and saw his shorts around his ankles.
Her eyes filled with tears. Gently, he cradled her chin in his hands, gazing down at her. 'Know what?' he said with a ruminative smile. 'You got eyes just like your daddy's.'
Mute, Lacy stared up at him, scared and desperate. He took her hand and put it on his most intimate place. 'You don't know your daddy, do you?'
She shook her head, eyes closing. The last thing she remembered him saying was, 'Name was Payton. The one your mama turned to for con-so-lation. Just like what I've got for you.'
* * *
Stunned, Terri faced Betty Sims.
She sat away from her daughter, at the other end of her couch, a figure of abject shame. Terri waited until Sims could look at her.
'You wanted to know,' Sims said in a voice shot through with misery. 'You wanted to know everything.'
Terri struggled with her own disbelief. 'You were with Payton.'
Briefly, Betty shut her eyes. 'Just one or two times, a few days before those two got arrested. I wanted him to stop Eddie from beating up on me.'
'Did he?'
Sims shrugged. 'Couldn't do nothing from jail.'
Suddenly, the logic of events long past struck Terri so hard that she felt herself inhale with a shudder. Softly, she asked. 'When did you tell Eddie about Payton?'
Sims turned away. 'Day or two after it happened. Eddie beat it out of me.'
