Laura Mae

"Lauria Mae, tell me who hurt you, sugar."

"Laura Mae, honey, you tell the the nice police officer how you fell out of the ol' sycamore you was climbin' in Mr. Jones' back yard -- her daddy told me the whole story when I got home from my shift this afternoon."

"Ms. Gants, my physical examination, as requested by the hospital emergency room intake social worker, indicated that not only was Laura Mae bruised all over, her broken six-year-old body has been used in ways no six year old should ever have the utter misfortune of being abused."

"Mama, I'm sorry Mama, I tried to be a good girl and keep quiet so he could sleep till you got home, but he slammed my door open and said my cartoons was too loud and I was a bad girl for waking him up and deserved every thing he done to me and he wouldn't stop even though I couldn't stop crying even when he said to stop crying like a baby 'cause I was a big girl and big girl's get beat and poked when they's bad and I better keep my mouth shut or else you was gonna be mad too and you and him was gonna send me away to a place for bad girls, but Mama, it hurts so bad, please don't be mad at me, Mama, I'm sorry, Mama."