“Naw.”
“Cause we got the same problem and they think maybe we can help each other out.”
“I don’t give your kind of help.”
“Don’t get evil. That ain’t what I mean.” She sounded as if she was going to cry, but when I looked up at her, she wasn’t. She was showing her bad teeth again. “You know what I told you when I give those men that bad whiskey and they got sick. I lied to you. It killed about three of them.”
I said nothing. I lay on the cot, watching the ceiling. I finally looked across at her again. She had hiked up her dress. I watched her legs, her bare feet. I didn’t look at her face.
“You hear me?” she asked. “Yeah, I heard you.”
“They made us roommates cause they know how well we get along with each other,” she said sarcastically.
“Don’t fuck with me,” I said, looking back at the ceiling. “That’s what my last roommate told me. She said, ‘Don’t
come fucking with me, cause I got my nigger on the outside. All I’m doing is waiting to get out of here.’ But I know you ain’t got yours on the outside, and you prob”ly be in here longer than I will.”
Eva? Are you afraid to talk to me?
No.
Why did you kill him?
I was lonely.
That doesn’t make sense, does it, Eva?
Yes.
What happened before you killed him?
Nothing.
Then why would you kill him? Were you afraid of him? Did he do something to make you afraid of him?
No.
How much of your story is true?
Everything.
Not all of it sounds true. Everything.
Did he do something to frighten you? He humiliated and frightened you, didn’t he?
She’s crazy. She’s crazy.
Hush.
What did he do?
Nothing.
Did he say something to hurt you?
He was on the bed looking at me.
Have you had any hallucinations since I gave you these?
No.
Why did you think you bit it all off?
I did.
The police report says you didn’t.
I did . . . I wanted to.
You want me to leave now?
No . . . He was on the bed looking at me. I wanted to get out of there. He didn’t have no right to keep me in there.
You said you wanted to stay.
A woman doesn’t belong in the street.
You had a place to go, you didn’t have to stay there.
No.
All right, Eva, I’ll give you the medicine again and we’ll let you go out with the other women. Would you like that?
A woman doesn’t belong out in the street. He thought I was that kind of woman but I wasn’t. I used to see them jumping out in front of cars to get men. Do as you please. He wouldn’t let me out of there. He thought I belonged in the street.
What did you want him to think?
I came over because I thought I could talk to you. I want to fuck you. Can I fuck you?
Eva.
Don’t look at me. Don’t make people look at me. I’m not making anybody look at you . . . What?
He was sitting there looking at me. I didn’t even talk to him . . . I don’t want to go out there.
You just said you wanted to be with the others . . . Eva, what did he do to you? Why did you think you bit his whole penis off?
He used the room.
He used you?
I wouldn’t talk to him. I didn’t talk to no man for a long time.
Did he frighten you?
He was sitting on the bed looking at me.
What did he do to you, Eva?
I wasn’t like that. I was just sitting over there. And then he came and sat down and then we went back to his room, but I wasn’t like that. And he was looking at me. He wouldn’t let me comb my hair or nothing. I was just sitting there. I saw him before he saw me. I knew why he came over. I knew he would come over. I hadn’t been with a man for a long time.
What did he do? What else did he do, Eva?
I wouldn’t look at him.
You were afraid of him?
No.
I’m wondering if you even liked the man.
What?
Why did you pick him? I’m wondering if you liked him.
I went with him.
Why were you afraid of him?
He was just sitting there watching me. I was in the room. He made me stay there.
Why did you go there in the first place? You had somewhere else to go.
I’ve been everywhere. I could go anywhere. I . . .
What?
Nothing.
What else were you going to say?
Nothing.
What do you think is the matter with you? loneliness. I filled in the spaces. I filled in the spaces and feelings.
Why did you kill him?
I filled in the feelings.
Are you trying to put me on again?
I did it.
Did you think Davis was Alfonso?
No . . . I covered him back up. I saw the blood and covered him back up.
Did you love him?
Did you think he was Moses Tripp?
No.
You were a lonely woman, weren’t you?
No.
You must have been a very lonely woman. You were with him next to no time. And then you did what you did . . . I thought you said you were lonely.
I don’t know. I don’t remember. I didn’t think I would see him again and I keep seeing him again. Over and over.
Did he tell you he loved you?
No.
Did you tell him?
No.
Tell me what happened.
I did.
What did he say or do to you?
Nothing.
You can’t keep it in you forever.
Yes.
It’s like a bad dream, isn’t it?
I can smell it.
He’s not here.
No.
How long was it, Eva? How long has it been?
Don’t.
How long has it been?
Don’t.
He went out and then he came back. What happened? Something must have happened before, I mean after he told you about his wife. What else happened?
He thought I was that kind of woman. I
