Karmen Lee

“Some call us unnatural or demons, but that doesn’t change the fact that we too were human once. We have feelings; we feel pain and there is no shame in wanting to live.”
― Karmen Lee, Blood Rising

“Before I could let myself drift too far into that feeling, the brittle hiss of small-town gossip floated from a couple tables over.
'Did you hear what that man said? Something about selling?'
'I did. And if Honey is back to sell Bea's place after all this time...well, that is a damn shame. I know Bea would be rolling over in her grave if she could hear it.'
'She's an outsider now, anyway. Barely ever came back. I doubt she cares about this place the way Bea did.'
My spine went tight before I started wiping at the same clean table, pretending I was too focused to hear them. It wasn't fair. They didn't know her. They didn't see the way Honey had teared up last night when she looked over pictures from Bea's closet. They never heard the way she'd whispered Bea's name like it hurt. They didn't see her truly trying to find her place in a town she barely remembered but still carried inside her like a bruise. Sometimes, small towns rarely cared about truth. They cared about narrative. And once a narrative caught fire, it was almost impossible to put out.”
― Karmen Lee, Peaches and Honey