Do You Think I Cried Too Long? – Kelliher, Elaine

Both Nedra and Pet silently went through the hen’s houses and gathered the eggs for tomorrow’s breakfast. One of the bantam hens would not leave her nest, but Nedra simply swung her arm toward the hen and coaxed, “Go on, Becky, it’s time for you to eat your breakfast with the rest of ‘em.

As if on cue, the hen cocked her head from side to side and stared piercingly at Nedra then Pet as if she couldn’t believe she was being forced to leave her nest. But as she did every morning and evening, she arose from her nest and strutted over to the feeding trough and joined the rest of the chickens. “Pet,” Nedra said as they left the chicken coop and headed for the backyard, “I know you feel like you between a rock and a hard place, and I do have sympathy for your predicament.”

Even though it was still early in the morning, they could both tell that it was going to be a hot day. Pet was already perspiring in her long-sleeved, all- black muumuu, and Nedra had removed her shoes and was enjoying the freedom of a light, loose-fitting, colorful house dress. The two women were so different, but the kinship between them was evident.

Pet visibly relaxed. She felt that Nedra was not trying to judge her, just stating the facts. “Nedra, I know you understand what I’m going through, but to tell you the truth, not taking my other grandchildren hurts too. I want to, but I just can’t.” “Pet,” Nedra said as she sat on one of the lawn chairs in the backyard, “I went to my brother’s house, and I tell you, something strange was going on there.

Remember I told you on the phone about Ellen’s pictures being torn up, right?” “Yes, Nedra, I do remember.” Pet reached into her muumuu pocket and pulled out a wad of toilet paper, and wiped her brow. “Well, it gets stranger than that. Turns out that my brother was messing with one of Ellen’s cousins, and she ‘bout to have a baby by Orville too!

Well,” Nedra continued, absentmindedly shooing a fly that was buzzing around her face, “I found a letter written to Ellen that she had hidden in her chest of drawers that he didn’t know about. It was from Ellen’s cousin telling her that she ‘bout to have Orville’s baby, and he oughta know she’s expecting Orville to help her take care of it. I think that they must have been fighting about that, and it got out of hand.”

Pet got up from the backyard bench she was sitting on and stared up at her.

Copyright © 2022 Elaine Kelliher All rights reserved. This book nor any portion thereof may not be reproduced or used in any manner whatsoever without the express written permission of the publisher except for the use of brief quotations in a book review. Printed in the United States of America ISBN: 979-8-218-15724-1 (Paperback) ISBN: 979-8-218-15725-8 (Hardcover) OceanofPDF.com There will be haters, There will be doubters, There will be non-believers, And then there will be YOU, proving them wrong once again.

~Jennifer Van Allen OceanofPDF.com Acknowledgments To the little girl in me who knew she had to survive—if for nothing else than to tell her story. I also want to thank my mother, Ellen, who lived long enough to give me enough love to last my lifetime, and my siblings, Lorna and Orville Jr., for reminding me about unconditional love. My teachers, especially my elementary school teacher, Mrs. Kerr, and my high school English teacher, Mr. Wilson, for sharing their joy of learning and reading: inspiring me to pursue my dreams along the way.

My family: my son Ronald, who in his own quirky way kept bugging me to finish my book; my daughter Renee’, who taught me that even when you’re down, you’re not finished; and my youngest, Niambi, who pushed me, kicking and screaming, into a book publisher’s arms. To the bohemian poet, Clive Matson, whose weekly writing workshops kept me grounded in the writer’s world. A special shout-out to my long-time friends, Billie, Ruby, and Kennetta, who have been encouraging me from day one.

To my husband Giles, I could not have asked for a more supportive partner. Thank you for believing in my book’s potential and for arranging my forgotten mother’s gravestone. It meant the world to me and my siblings. OceanofPDF.com Prologue “For life and death are one, even as the river and the sea are one.”

–Kahlil Gibran A shotgun blast pierced Lily’s ears, causing her temples to pulse and her slight body to propel itself upwards from the front porch steps. Her brother, Deenie, stood up, eyes wide with fright, and stared at his big sister. His two- year-old eyes glanced from Lily to the screened-in front door and back to Lily again. Lily could see him trembling. Neither Lily nor her brother had ever heard a shotgun going off, and the reverberating sound scared them.

Deenie clutched his sister’s gangly legs and whimpered. The Jenkins’ house was a half-mile from the nearest road. A car hadn’t passed by for over an hour, and Lily could hear the fieldworkers outside plowing the nearby beet fields.

This is a short excerpt from the opening of “Do You Think I Cried Too Long?” by Kelliher, Elaine, quoted for review and introduction purposes. All rights belong to the copyright holders.

Book Information

• Unique ID: aa4bb1a52b63bdb4
• File Extension: .pdf
• File Size: 4,475,255 bytes (4.268 MB)
• Title: Do You Think I Cried Too Long?
• Author: Kelliher, Elaine
• ISBN: 9798218157241, 9798218157258
• Pages: 296
• Language: English (en)
• Digital Edition Created: 2026-07-01T12:41:13+00:00

Reading & Word Statistics

• Estimated Reading Time: 499.6 minutes
• Total Words: 99,919
• Total Characters: 552,205
• Average Words per Page: 337.56
• Average Characters per Page: 1865.56

Most Frequent Words

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Table of Contents

• Page 2: Title Page
• Page 4: Copyright Page
• Page 5: Opening Quote
• Page 6: Acknowledgments
• Page 7: Prologue
• Page 10: Chapter 1 Rude Awakening
• Page 12: Chapter 2 Dreams, Oh Dreams, Leave Me Be
• Page 14: Chapter 3 Black Beauty
• Page 19: Chapter 4 Wake Up, Lady! No Vagrants Allowed!
• Page 21: Chapter 5 Desert Kids
• Page 29: Chapter 6
• Page 31: Chapter 7 What? That Gal Ain’t Got No Momma?
• Page 37: Chapter 8 Is It All Right to Play With a Colored Girl?
• Page 42: Chapter 9 Just a Little Pee-stained
• Page 45: Chapter 10 Strings, Oh Soulful Strings
• Page 49: Chapter 11 Another Day, Another Move
• Page 52: Chapter 12 We’ve Got Enough of Them
• Page 57: Chapter 13 My Feet Hurt So Bad
• Page 58: Chapter 14 Imperialism! Humph!
• Page 62: Chapter 15 Light and dark Are Not the Same
• Page 67: Chapter 16 I’ll Have Some Cawn Fritters, Please
• Page 73: Chapter 17 Duck Under the Covers
• Page 76: Chapter 18 The Photograph
• Page 78: Chapter 19 Oh, Mother, You’re Gone for Good
• Page 80: Chapter 20 Yes, Sir, Dew Drop Inn
• Page 82: Chapter 21 I’m Gonna Write Him Now
• Page 83: Chapter 22 Them Kids Can Take Care of Themselves
• Page 84: Chapter 23 If Only I Could Take You Home
• Page 86: Chapter 24 Waiting It Out
• Page 89: Chapter 25 Men’s Pet, Women’s Fret
• Page 92: Chapter 26 Time to Reunite
• Page 94: Chapter 27 Nothing Like a sweet letter to chase the blues away
• Page 98: Chapter 28 Hail Mary, Full of Grace, the Lord is With Thee
• Page 101: Chapter 29 I Can’t Help it if You Got Bad Hair!
• Page 104: Chapter 30 He Didn’t Know He Was Colored
• Page 107: Chapter 31 Reflection Day
• Page 109: Chapter 32 Death Hurts the Living
• Page 112: Chapter 33 You Too Young to Understand
• Page 116: Chapter 34 He Must be Hiding Something
• Page 120: Chapter 35 A Friend in Need
• Page 125: Chapter 36 Sweet Baby Brother
• Page 127: Chapter 37 Nobody Want Them Kids
• Page 136: Chapter 38 A Walk in the Park, Chasing Little Girl Blues
• Page 141: Chapter 39 You Mean to Tell Me the State Pay More for Foster Care
• Page 148: Chapter 40 I Gotta Have Me a Man Too
• Page 158: Chapter 41 You Want to Find a Good Girl, Go to Church
• Page 160: Chapter 42 Where’s the Towel?
• Page 168: Chapter 43 She Had a Way of Making Mean Look Meaner
• Page 177: Chapter 44 Say Fella, You Got a Light?
• Page 180: Chapter 45 Tell Me About my Mother
• Page 186: Chapter 46 I Thought You Were a Cold-Hearted Woman
• Page 193: Chapter 47 Just Thinking About My Sister and Brother
• Page 198: Chapter 48 At Last, My Love Has Come Along
• Page 210: Chapter 49 Do You Have Any Sweet Milk?
• Page 214: Chapter 50 If Only Life Was Fair
• Page 221: Chapter 51 Send Her a Greyhound Ticket
• Page 224: Chapter 52 She’s Always Been Like That
• Page 229: Chapter 53 We Could Make Us a Beautiful Mother Who Loved Us
• Page 235: Chapter 54 I Regret to Inform You
• Page 240: Chapter 55 First, I Want to Extend My Condolences
• Page 243: Chapter 56 If Wishes Were Horses
• Page 247: Chapter 57 Just Tell Me What Happened
• Page 252: Chapter 58 Will We Ever Know What Happened?
• Page 256: Chapter 59 They Bake in the Sun and Turn into Raisins
• Page 259: Chapter 60 Time to Watch the Grownups
• Page 262: Chapter 61 When Death Comes Calling
• Page 265: Chapter 62 When Death Comes Calling
• Page 281: Chapter 63 I Do Remember Everything
• Page 286: Chapter 64 Don’t Kids Have Rights?
• Page 291: Chapter 65 I Hope it Wasn’t my Stepdad

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