Under the Peach Tree

Under the Peach Tree Read Free Page B

Book: Under the Peach Tree Read Free
Author: Charlay Marie
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some chili she made last night.”
    I sighed and rubbed my growling stomach. I couldn’t believe Momma would give her last food to the neighbors but couldn’t give me a thing. I didn’t understand how a mother could let her child go hungry and not think twice about it. I bet if I died, she wouldn’t have even blinked.

    Grandma no longer picked Faith up for church since she was old enough to walk. Every Sunday, I would walk Faith up to the entrance of the church and then go over to my peach tree and sing the songs. Once we were out of our house, Faith handed me her lunch.
    â€œHere, take it. “ She shoved her food in my hands.
    â€œThen what are you gonna eat, Faith?”
    â€œI’m not hungry, okay? If you don’t eat, I don’t eat.”
    I smiled. Her generosity was her best trait. “Thanks.”
    We continued walking down the road in silence. I was admiring the beautiful South Carolina day. The sun was shining brightly and the trees danced in the wind. Days like these were the best. There was something about the sound of nature that called to me. If I listened closely enough to the sound of swaying trees, the wind tossing about crunchy leaves as the birds sat on branches chirping away, I could almost hear a faint voice calling out to me, telling me that it loved me.
    I stopped shy of the church, always making sure I never touched the actual land. There was a white fence that cut the church off from the dirt road where I stood. I watched as a few church members entered the church dressed in nice slacks and dress shirts. One woman had on a hat so big I thought she was going to tip over. I was surprised she even made it through the door.
    Faith turned around to me with her Bible in her hands and smiled. “See you after church. I’m gonna have lots to teach you.”
    I frowned and kicked dirt in the air. I didn’t want to hear about the Bible anymore if I couldn’t learn it by sitting in church myself. I hated how unfair life was. I wished I were Faith. But instead of complaining about it, I just nodded. “Okay, Faith.”
    I watched her walk onto the church grounds. She turned around to me just before she entered the church and blew me a kiss. I caught it in my hands and continued walking to my favorite spot on Sunday mornings, where I pretended to be a part of something I was not.

Chapter 3
    Once me and Faith were fifteen and old enough to watch ourselves, Momma would start going into the city on the weekends doing God knows what with God knows who. She seemed happy when she came home; Faith was the first to suspect that it was because of a man.
    Whenever Momma left, I was the first to want to act up. I would call boys over to the house and flirt while Faith stayed in her room, reading her Bible.
    I loved the attention I got from boys and men. Momma was right when she said around sixteen I’d look like a woman and many men would try to seduce me. Men would come from the city to take advantage of a small-town, naïve girl. I was the first one they wanted and I loved it. I was the duckling who everybody called ugly, but at fifteen, I was praised for my beauty. Nobody wanted to talk to Faith; they said that she was a Jesus freak and wouldn’t put out. Well, whatever she wouldn’t do, I did. I felt that it was my time to get the attention that I deserved as a little girl.
    One weekend when Momma was away, I called up a college boy who played football for South Carolina University. The girls in our high school used to talk about how sexy he was and I had to have what they didn’t have. He actually spotted me one day, walking home from school. He pulled up in a nice all-black BMW with the brightest smile. He looked cool and mysterious in those dark sunglasses and had my attention immediately.
    â€œWhat’s good?” he asked.
    I looked behind at the other girls he had passed and felt special that he stopped for me. Momma said any man

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