“She ain’t scared of me,” Tarabelle said, then grunted. “She oughta be, though, but she ain’t. She the only friend I ever had.All y’all always had friends, ’cept me. I thought something was wrong wit’ me.Did you know that, Tan? I ain’t friendly like Mushy. I ain’t smart like you. And I ain’t pretty like Martha Jean. I ain’t never knew what I was s’pose to be. Then Mattie wanted to be my friend. She liked me better than she did you. I knew you’d be mad, but I didn’t care. It’s time for me to have friends, too.”
