“When I was nine,” she told him, “one day I’d had — let’s call it a bad day. Teacher telling us to be quiet. Yelling at me to be quiet. ‘Shut up, little girl, you’ve said enough.’ ‘Stop, little girl, don’t hit, use your words’ — and shut up at the same time. They squash you. They want you to be small and silent. Good was just another word for don’t fight back.”

