Darkness Before Dawn

It is 15 degrees and snowing outside by the time Keisha escapes. Barefoot and without a coat, she tries to find help in Jonathan’s neighborhood, but nobody answers their door. Fifteen minutes later, nearly frozen to death, she collapses until she is found by Edna, the woman without a permanent home.

Edna carries Keisha indoors, where she tends to the girl’s injuries and revives her. The two recall meeting one another months earlier, and Keisha trusts Edna enough to confide in her. Keisha says she is devastated by what’s happened and claims that Jonathan has ruined her life. Edna replies, “He didn’t take yo’ life, girl. All he took was a little piece of your shell. I done had pieces of my shell plucked all my life, but can’t nobody take away my spirit!” (203). Edna urges Keisha to call her parents. By this time, it is nearly five in the morning, and Edna points out that they must be frantic. She produces a cell phone on which Keisha calls her parents and begs them to come and get her.