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"Silk" The cry came from deep inside Cilia’s throat

"Eli s I hadn’t felt before with a man Not like the other men I knew, the boys I knew He--I suppose he seduced me I can’t explain it any better than that I don’t have the vocabulary He asked me to meet him at his sister’s house I did He offered o to bed with hiain

"Nothing happened, Aunt Cil Eli’s sister ca happened I didn’tI didn’t" Silk hung her head "It wasn’t until later that I realized just how fortunate I had been"

Cilia wrapped her ared her from behind There were tears in Cilia’s eyes

Suddenly, I felt like an intruder, but I couldn’t bringthe entire story

"What happened next?" I asked

Silk answered even as Cilia held on to her "Eli called a few ti for a rematch--that’s the word he used, reain"

"You should have told me," Cilia said

"I was too embarrassed," Silk said "Anyhen I went to deliver Mother’s check, he was there It’s hard for me to tell you exactly what happened next It’s all kind of blurry He was drunk At least he see me to take off my shirt I called for my mother, but she didn’t answer When I pushed him away"--Silk held up her hands--" very badly I don’t knohy I couldn’t see a wound I called for ain, only she never carabbed a softball bat--it was leaning against the wall and I just grabbed it I didn’t even think about it, I justI told Eli to leave me alone He ca the bat I hit him I hit hiain Harder He fell I dropped the bat and ran out of there just as fast as I could"

"Okay," I said

Silk’s hands were folded on the towel in her lap She was looking down at them as if she had never seen them before They were dotted with tears

"I believed you when you said you would have given yourself up to protect your mother," I told her

Silk nodded

"So nohat?" Cilia wanted to know "So now you’re going to ruin her life? For what? For Jefferson? For that piece of filth? Silk has an incredible life in front of her She’s going to the Oly to take that away fro in self-defense She was only protecting herself Are you going to ruin her life over that? Answer , my inner voice replied I didn’t believe that Silk was responsible for Jefferson’s death The best a prosecutor could argue was that conking hi factor Clearly not murder, and probably self-defense No, Silk didn’t kill Jefferson It was the booze that done hiue, and Cilia would hire the best that money could buy So why bother? Why ruin Silk’s life? The law ht be satisfied, but would justice be served? G K said it earlier Justice belongs to God alone Besides, Merodie would hate me forever, and I just didn’t want that

I stood up and retrieved et soood life, Silk," I called over ed to e

"Do you think you’re going to come back later and ask forto blackrabbed my arm with both hands and pulled it until I spun toward her She had a strong grip, and she didn’t let go