Lucy wakes dry-mouthed to the sound of water. A patter on tin, echoing: the season’s first rain has come. Her bladder throbs1 as she climbs down. The wet thickens to a suck and slap, as if the shack2 has flooded. The moon is thin and the end of the month nigh and the tin warps3 the light, so that shifting silver waves lap the walls. The house is an ocean. And the ship? She freezes on the bottom rung. The ship is a mattress4 and on it a sea creature, many-armed and terrible, with skin slick and wet. Her throat is too parched5 to scream. And then she sees: not one creature but two. Ma sits astride Ba, her belly6 crushing him. Her nightgown falls over them both, and her legs hook his, pressing him into the mattress. She’s hurting him. His breaths come quick and shuddering7. —ets, Ma says. She rises up, bears down. Her weight makes him groan8. Tickets.Ba puts a hand to her chest to stop her. Beauty is a weapon, Ma said, and Lucy thinks she may begin to understand. Ma’s power a nighttime power. Sweat gathers on Lucy, in those places where skin rubs skin: the crook9 of her elbows, the space between her thighs10. A wet heat in the room; the rainy season is coming. Ba’s eyes roll back. And still Ma hurts him, till his head goes loose and a single word escapes him: Yes.Only then does Ma lift off. Lucy is aware of the sting of her own urine down her leg. Shamefaced she climbs upstairs. No need for the outhouse tonight.
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1
throbs
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体内的跳动( throb的名词复数 ) | |
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2
shack
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adj.简陋的小屋,窝棚 | |
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3
warps
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n.弯曲( warp的名词复数 );歪斜;经线;经纱v.弄弯,变歪( warp的第三人称单数 );使(行为等)不合情理,使乖戾, | |
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4
mattress
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n.床垫,床褥 | |
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5
parched
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adj.焦干的;极渴的;v.(使)焦干 | |
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6
belly
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n.肚子,腹部;(像肚子一样)鼓起的部分,膛 | |
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7
shuddering
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v.战栗( shudder的现在分词 );发抖;(机器、车辆等)突然震动;颤动 | |
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8
groan
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vi./n.呻吟,抱怨;(发出)呻吟般的声音 | |
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9
crook
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v.使弯曲;n.小偷,骗子,贼;弯曲(处) | |
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10
thighs
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n.股,大腿( thigh的名词复数 );食用的鸡(等的)腿 | |
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