was crying. Her daddy? Shane? Lester?

There was a knock on the door. "Ruthie?" Lester said.

She grunted in response.

"You okay?"

"Uh-huh."

She didn't love Lester. He was a good man, she couldn't deny that. He loved her, truly loved her, and practically bent over backward attempting to make her happy. Still, she did not love him. Yet she needed him.

What made the situation so unfair, so damn frustrating: she needed him. Holding my breath in an out-house, she thought, desperately needing oxygen but can't stomach the smell.

If not for that damn mark, she thought as she dabbed her eyes with tissue, I possibly could love him. She stood up and flushed the toilet, and then a thought hit her: once she got her share of the money she wouldn't need Lester.got to his feet. "Stop asking stupid questions, boy. Your momma wigged out again. I didn't want to hurt her."

"Hmmph!" Darlene snorted. "Looked to me you were about to get your ass whooped."

"Go home, Darlene!" Eric said. "This family business. You can get hurt sticking your nose in family business."

Darlene snorted again and walked up the steps. Shirley's loud sobs drifted out when she opened the door.

"You hurt Momma!" Paul said.

"No, I didn't. You saw her choking the shit outta me." Paul poked out his mouth and balled up his fist. "You want some of me too, boy? Huh, do you?"

Paul moved around him, keeping close to the green aluminum siding to avoid coming within a few feet of his father, and then ran inside the house and