they were staring at the television , waiting for art 's speech , in a kind of numb silence . engrossed as she was , mary forgot to be rude . it 's like one of those games at the amusement park where you strike the hammer and the ball spikes to hit a bell . he was a nobody , a dribbling half-man . god knows what would happen to us then . '' he could n't even look at me . a tear leaked from the corner of her eye . `` i will purchase this slave from you . '' 