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can anyone help me? “May we see your wrists, Detective Black?” Everyone looked at her sleeves, at the light jacket and buttoned cuffs. Hamilton leaned closer, his expression as soft as his voice. “We’re not incapable of sympathy.…” Elizabeth kept her hands perfectly still, though her skin seemed to burn. “I don’t know what you mean.” “If there’s a reason you snapped—” “I shouldn’t be here,” she said. “If there are extenuating circumstances—” “I shouldn’t be here at all.” She hit the door at a fast walk, blood rushing in her ears, the skin still burning. She didn’t think about why because she was tired of thinking, same with feeling, remembering, talking. There was a time and a place, and not every goddamn thing mattered. That’s what everyone else refused to understand. The basement was done. Over. For an instant, she sensed Beckett behind her, his voice in the stairwell, then on the street. She moved faster, slid into the car, then gunned it, seeing his face as a white blotch, his hands rising and then down. She drove fast and let the car do the talking. Rubber at the corners. Engine on the flats. Her skin still burned, but it was more like shame and rage and self-loathing What does "Elizabeth kept her hands perfectly still, though her skin seemed to burn" mean? What does " There was a time and a place" mean? What does " let the car do the talking" mean? What does "Rubber at the corners. Engine on the flats" mean?

Answers · 3

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"Elizabeth kept her hands perfectly still, though her skin seemed to burn" It means Elizabeth didn't move her hands, although there was a burning feeling on her skin or let's say her skin was feeling very hot. "There was a time and a place" Here the author probably intends to convey the importance of the very moment she tried to escape. It had to happen at that moment and that place, so nothing else mattered to her. "let the car do the talking" It means that she gave up her own will to the car and let it decide to take her as far as possible. "Rubber at the corners. Engine on the flats" The author apparently suggests that the tires of the car were hitting the corners of streets and the engine was pushing and pulling the whole car on the flat surface of streets.
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What does "Elizabeth kept her hands perfectly still, though her skin seemed to burn" mean? She didn’t move her hands. She had a feeling in them as if they were burning. Usually we would pull our hand away if we felt it burning. What does " There was a time and a place" mean? It means that there is an appropriate time and place for things to happen. When said there it is like she’s saying what happened didn’t feel like the right time and place for it to happen. What does " let the car do the talking" mean? In general it means instead of saying something, let the sounds of actions of the car communicate instead. What does "Rubber at the corners. Engine on the flats" mean? Tires are rubber and when going around a corner fast they make a sound and leave some on the road in some cases. The cornering limits how fast you can go safely so engine on the flats means making the engine go faster where it’s flat. I think straights would have been better there than flats.
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The first quote probably means that there is something about Elizabeth's wrists that the other characters want to see, but she won't show them. "There's a time and a place" is a common phrase in English. It means that there is an appropriate setting to do or talk about something, but this isn't it. People often use it to make someone stop talking about an uncomfortable topic in public. "let (something) do the talking" it's also a pretty common phrase, meaning here that she doesn't need to explain herself because she can drive instead. Maybe Elizabeth is trying to prove her skill as a racecar driver? Not sure of the exact context, but if a character says something like "I'll let my fists do the talking" it would mean they'll fight rather than talk. The last quote definitely references racecar driving. It's a way of getting a car to turn very quickly without losing control. Rubber means the tires. I hope this helps!

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