“I ain’t turning my back on you. If you ever need me, I’ll come, but I done took my last beating and it’s just time to go. I’m sorry, Mama.” He stepped into the hallway, then turned and looked at each of us.When his gaze met mine, he smiled sadly.“Tangy, girl,” he said, “this world a awful big place.You can’t save everybody in it. Stop trying, okay?” I nodded, and Harvey turned away.Through his tattered shirt, I saw the marks on his back. My emotions were in turmoil. Already I missed Harvey, but he had just shown me that one day I, too, might walk out of my mother’s house—alive.
