The Friday 56 for 12/23/22: Pet by Akwaeke Emezi

The Friday 56This is a weekly bloghop hosted by Freda’s Voice.

RULES:
The Friday 56 Grab a book, any book.
The Friday 56 Turn to Page 56 or 56% on your ereader. If you have to improvise, that is okay.
The Friday 56 Find a snippet, short and sweet.
The Friday 56 Post it.

from Page 56 (and 57) of:
Pet

Pet by Akwaeke Emezi

He was threaded with nothing but gentleness. Even when he fought, Redemption fought for the beauty of what his body could do, for the frailty of being human, the power and vulnerability tangled up in being flesh. It wasn’t personal; it wasn’t about his ego. It was about being alive. She remembered when he’d explained this to her, when she’d asked him why he loved something so violent.

“I don’t hold violence in my hands,” he’d answered, holding them up in front of his face…She watched as he rotated his wrists to look at his palms and then the backs of his hands, a few nicked scars marking his knuckles.

You fight, she’d said. Of course you hold violence in your hands, she meant.

Redemption heard what she hadn’t said out loud, and shook his head. “Here,” he said, tapping his chest. “Here is where I hold it, and I look at it and I fold it into something aise. Even when I fight, it’s not about letting it out. Especially when I fight.”

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2 Comments

  1. Sounds like a powerful read! Hope you had a great holiday, and happy new year!

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