The words shocked Semelee. She’d thought of herself as somethin’ of a goodtime gal, of easy virtue maybe, but not the school slut. And it wasn’t like Semelee loved Jesse or nothin’, or ever even entertained the idea that he loved her, but…he’d been talkin’ about her like she was a pull of chewin’ tobacco that he was gonna pass around between his friends.

With some kickin’ and clawin’ she broke free and ran out—not just out of the boys room, but out of the school as well. She could’ve gone to the principal, but it would be the word of three of the football stars against the school slut, and besides, nothin’ had happened.

So she’d run home. And there was Freddy. Alone. Drinkin a beer. And horny. He offered her a brew, then started touchin’ her. Semelee just snapped. She started screamin’ and throwin’ things and the next thing she knew Freddy was out the door and headin’ for his car.

He must’a called Momma because half an hour later she came stormin’ in, started slappin’ at Semelee, callin’ her a little whore for playin’ hooky so she could come on to Freddy. Now look what she’d done! Freddy was gone, sayin’ he wasn’t stayin’ in no house with a freaky piece of jailbait tryin’ to get him in trouble.

Momma wouldn’t listen to her, and Semelee’d been hurt that her own momma was takin’ Freddy’s side over hers. But then Momma crushed her, sayin’ she wished Semelee’d never been born, wished she’d died like all the other girls been born to the lagoon folk round that time, that she’d been a weight around her neck ever since, draggin’ her down, her white hair scarin’ off the men interested in Momma.

That did it. Semelee busted out through the door with no direction in mind and kept goin’. She wound up on the beach where she collapsed on the sand. Her momma, who she’d thought of as her best friend, her only true friend, hated her, had always hated her. She wanted to die.

She thought about drowning herself but didn’t have the energy to jump in the water. The tide was out so she decided to just lie here on the sand and let the water come to her, wash her out to sea, and that would be the end of it. No more hassles, no more names like “Granny,” no more heartbreak, no nothin’.

She lay there on her back in the sand with her eyes closed. The sun was so bright it blazed through her lids, botherin’ her. She didn’t have her sunglasses on her but she did have those two shells around her neck. They was just the right size to go over her eyes. It’d be like layin’ in a tannin’ booth.