“If you had a piece of coal, we could hold her down, shove it up her ass, and come collect a big, fat diamond in a few days.”

“Shawna smiles demurely at the attendant, her lips barely moving as she speaks to me. "If you had a piece of coal, we could hold her down, shove it up her ass and come collect a big fat diamond in a few days.""I'm pretty sure it takes longer than a few days for coal to turn into a diamond, Shawna.""Not in that tight ass, it wouldn't.”

“A diamond is a piece of coal that stuck to the job.”

“Old lady Patterson is a real tightwad.” Raising his voice so it would carry, the man continued, “If she stuck a lump of coal up her ass, within a week she’d shit out a diamond.”

“Her heart began to ache, and she felt the numbness slip away. Misery welled up inside her. She clamped down on it, trying to hold onto the deadness that had blanketed her emotions for the past few days.”

“Without a whole lot of pressure, a diamond is just a piece of coal.”