I said, “I don’t know. Why are all those bottles on it?” “To keep the ghosts away,” Gloria said. “What ghosts?” “The ghosts of all the things I done wrong.” I looked at all the bottles on the tree. “You did that many things wrong?” I asked her. “Mmmm-hmmm,” said Gloria. “More than that.” “But you’re the nicest person I know,” I told her. “Don’t mean I haven’t done bad things,” she said.
