”In her apartment building over Congress Street in the center of Portland, the woman continued to sob as she carved symbol after symbol into her nei...hbor’s flesh. With each completed mark, a slip of skin fell down to the floor like a red slug. She had known this man for years, but now the Black Stigmata was forcing her to torture him. Every scratch and cut with the steak knife was perfect, as if she were a puppet on strings. But while the Black Stigmata steadied her movements to ensure there. Off by herself and dressed in rags, a lean woman stood knee-deep in the fast-moving stream and pounded a pair of britches on the rocks. Her dark hair was a tangle as thick as any berry patch and her skin was brown from the sun. She had done the wash for several men judging by the clothes spread on nearby bushes and was about finished her chores for a while. When she came to sit on the bank, I let myself down beside her."Gilly?" I asked and she nodded. "I'm in need of comfort." Ye mus' be. Why?" Did you ever see him with a boyfriend?" Ann continued."Sure lots of times, usually not the same one for very long. I justfigured he liked to play the field." Cindy began to turn serious. "Whathappened, Ann, you're scaring me." Nothing, I couldn't handle, so don't worry," Ann said reassuringly."But your friend Ian was a real jerk to me in bed." What did he do?" Cindy asked with her curiosity piqued again."Cindy, you know I'm trying to live a female lifestyle. I know I'm amale, but I'm. As the car started rolling, he handed me an open bottle of soda with the offer. ‘You look like you could use this.’ Mumbling my thanks, I quickly gulped down the soda. By this time the car is traveling just above the speed limit. And soon we are approaching my street. Stifling a yawn I point this out to the driver. His response is to speed up. As I try to escape this situation, I find that I can’t release the seat belt, or open either the door or window. As I start to cry and scream, he slaps.