Chapter 12
A book sat open on the kitchen table, but Ruth wasn’t reading it. Just staring. Staring, and remembering. Remembering dragging Agnes out of bed, saying, “Let’s get you cleaned up. When was the last time you took a shower?”
Agnes couldn’t remember, but her T-shirt had an incredibly sharp odour when Ruth pulled it over her head. The bathroom was strewn with dirty clothes and towels. It obviously hadn’t been cleaned in ages, but Ruth didn’t comment. She yanked off Agnes’s underwear and turned on the shower.
“Aren’t you coming with me?” Agnes asked.
“Oh...”
Cupping her breasts, she said, “Wash me. Please?”
After all these months, Ruth couldn’t have refused.
Closing the bathroom door, she undressed quickly and slipped under the flow. A thought occurred to her: that she mi
