She reached up an' kissed me 'side of th' face. She says she never kissed a grown man before an' she might as well kiss a n*****. She says what her papa do to her don't count. She says, 'Kiss me back, n*****.'

“She reached up an’ kissed me ‘side of th’ face. She says she never kissed a grown man before an’ she might as well kiss a n*****. She says what her papa do to her don’t count. She says, ‘Kiss me back, n*****.’ I say Miss Mayella lemme outa here an’ tried to run but she got her back to the door an’ I’da had to push her. I didn’t wanta harm her, Mr. Finch, an’ I say lemme pass, but just when I say it Mr. Ewell yonder hollered through th’ window.”

– Harper Lee

To Kill a Mockingbird, Chapter 19. Tom Robinson giving evidence at his trial describes how Mayella Ewell tried to hug him and kiss him. There is an inference in what Mayella told him – “what her father do to her don’t count” – that she may have been sexually abused by her father.

Harper Lee Quotes