I don’t know what that means, and she never explained it other than to say it was something that happened every few years. What I really think is that she had sex with a man she didn’t know and I was the result of that blessed union. I think she always felt bad that I was a girl without a daddy, but if I’d had a daddy, he most likely would have been some drunken, unemployed lout lying in front of the television, shouting for another beer. You can’t miss what you never had, that’s what I always say. And I grew up all fine and dandy, thank you very much. In this part of southern Georgia, I went barefoot most of my life, and if I didn’t feel like goin’ to school, I didn’t. But now that I’m a young woman working at Winn-Dixie for minimum wage, I sometimes wonder if I should have paid more attention to my schoolwork. But I’m a free spirit just like my ma and gram, and I don’t take work home with me like some people do. And whenever I need to make a little extra cash, I tell fortunes.
