He crossed the fence and came toward me. Then he was there and picked me up and carried me to the car and put me in the front seat and tucked a blanket around me and apologized and offered me some whiskey.

“Just drive me home,” I said. “Just get me home so I can fix my feet.”

“Please don’t tell on me, Rhoda. Say you won’t get me in any trouble.”

“I’ll get my brother to kill you, Stanley. I’ll let Dudley come down here and beat you to death. So just go on and drive me home and don’t drink anything else. Just drive the goddamn car. No, wait a minute. I changed my mind. Turn around. Take me back to Big Momma’s. I’ll get May Garth to take me to a doctor. Turn the car around. I mean it. Do what I told you to.”

“Oh, God. I don’t want to do that. I can’t go back up there.”

“You’ll do anything I tell you. My brother’s going to come down here and beat you to death. You ask Shelby about my brother Dudley. Just ask him. Take me back to Big Momma’s right this very minute.”

“You can’t go in there looking like that.”

“Take me back there. I said to drive me there.” I was screaming at him now, scrunched up in the seat with my bleeding feet tucked up under me. “I’m probably getting lockjaw right this minute. My uncles are doctors. I know all about things like this. Turn this car around. Take me back up there.”

“They won’t be there now. It’s probably closed.”

“It is not closed. You take me up there or I’ll have you put in jail.”

He turned the car around and went back up the hill to Big Momma’s. He parked the car and went inside and found May Garth. In a few minutes she came running out the door with Sheffield right behind her. They tore open the door to Stanley’s car and May Garth climbed inside and held me in her arms while Sheffield went across the parking lot and got his Chevrolet and drove it to where I was. Then he picked me up and put me in the front seat and May Garth got in beside me. All this time Stanley was standing by the open car door not saying a word. “I’m sorry,” he said finally as we were getting ready to drive off. “Don’t tell anyone else about this, Rhoda. Please don’t go spreading this around. It will only make us all look bad.”