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"What do you want?" Her voice was louder than necessary

"Mrs Davies,your daughter"

There was no reply

"Mrs Davies?"

"Leave hter, Mrs Davies, she needs--"

The door opened abruptly I was startled into taking a tentative step backward The woman who opened it was six feet tall and so enormously broad she filled the doorway--I doubted she was able to squeeze through it Her eyes were narrow and without color, and her hair was stringy and unwashed She wore a garish housecoat fastened with a safety pin at the throat The housecoat reether hatever cloth was at hand

"I don’t want any part of that slut," Sharon Davies shouted "I ain’t had no part of that slut for sixteen years and I don’t want no part of her now"

"She’s your daughter"

Sharon Davies slammed the door and screah the

My own mother died when I elve, and over the years es I was no longer sure as real about her and what ists call a false memory Nor did I remember what she looked like I only remembered what the photos I have of her look like, and that’s not the sa Still, I always kneas loved I felt it in the brief years before her death and the long years after I feel it even today It has always been a comfort to me; there have been times in my life when I drew on it the way a thirstya rade a child, or abuse a child, do anything but love a child totally and unconditionally, leaves hly helpless You can take children out of an abusive environment You can force parents to obey the law When no one is looking you can even beat hell out of them But you cannot make parents love the people they should love theto change that

I got inback and prayed what I always pray when I et exactly what she deserves That she’ll die alone

I met Eli Jefferson’s sister--her name was Evonne Louise Low seemed unnaturally cool and still The ruby-colored carpet was thick, and I could barely hear the sound of hout the place, but somehow that made it see softly I followed the outside a small conference rooements, headstones, and urns