cheeks are flushed with humiliation. “… until all you have to offer your husband on your wedding night is this…” At this point the pastor holds up the barren, dead stick plucked of its petals, a pauper’s gift if I ever saw one. This is as confusing as it is denigrating. According to the indictment, didn’t boys pluck those petals off? Were they also some sort of flower gradually losing their bloom? Or is sexual purity just the girls’ responsibility and requirement? I scan the room with insider knowledge of high school behavior; some petals here have definitely been plucked, and frankly, I’d
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