Ruth May Walk

In English today, we had to imagine ourselves as a character from The Poisonwood Bible and walk around as them. My character was Ruth May, the youngest of the Price girls. This is a post written in her voice.



We did just come back from the Congo and I swear to Jesus that we were not in Georgia for more than 20 minutes before leaving again. We came to this place where everything is shiny and green. Not like Africa which is brown everywhere. The people here are strange and all of them are different. There are whites like us and some of the Tribes of Ham but also every other shade of people in between. There are these people with yellow skin and black hair. I wonder what they did to make God curse them with eyes that can't open all the way. Mama says they're Asian like the people Father fought in the war. I don't think father would like it here all that much because of all the Asians. He doesn't like to remember about the war much I don't think. He'd probably say they're all going to hell besides. He'd say they're going to hell for not treating their body as a temple and showing too much skin. I think compared to the Congolese, these kids cover up just fine. But boy oh boy if Father was here, he'd have a fit if he saw some of the girls here. Every last one of 'em seems to have painted nails and piercings. I saw one girl who had piercings all over both of her ears. Mama said I'd better not stare so I try real hard not to. A whole bunch of 'em even wear makeup everyday. Father says these things are signs of prostitution but I can't believe future prostitutes would all be living in a place as pretty as this.Mama likes this place a lot. She says it's the most beautiful place she's ever been. Everyone else likes it here too. Rachel is getting along just fine with the white people at this school. The other people have no problem coming right up and talking to her but she thinks she's too good to talk to them. There are a lot of smart people here too. Smart like Ade and Leah. Some people still stare at Adah but mostly they're nice about it. I laugh at Leah sometimes when she talks to the other kids. Some of um just go and cuss right in front of her like it wasn't a sin at all. Oh boy when they do that Leah looks like she just might go and wash their mouths out with soap. I would feel sorry for them if she did that. Soap doesn't taste good. I would know because sometimes I am bad. We are all happy here, although Leah misses Father. There are lots of trees here and grass to run on. Mama lets me play out here even though I broke my arm in the Congo. I think she is just happy we are not there right now.

So that was Ruth May. It was quite hard to write in her voice. Yea.. so I hope it sounded like her.


"If you gaze long into an abyss, the abyss will gaze back into you." John Milton