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4 Girl with Her tongue Stuck out Made to stand for hours in the center of the living room, sticking the small red plum of her tongue out, out, to prove to her father that the cat hadn’t gotten it, knowing even then that she would repeat third grade, would dummy up to the dust that collected in the corner, would play right field, the others yelling swing, batter, batter, would button her lip, misspell “dumbbell” in the spelling bee, would never give anyone the raspberry, ever, ever, not even Michael “Icky” Snay, knowing even then that Speak-No-Evil was the monkey on her back, that the best child, the best child, was seen, only seen, and that someday she would speak in the whispers of the trees, but not today, not just yet, not this minute, not with him hissing in his chair, seething, seething, the red cat perched straight up on his lap, licking its chops. ...

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