“Mom! Are you alright? Did you hurt yourself?” I went to her and reached out to help her up.She laughed and used my help to try to stand, but t...he stupid shoes still were awkward and she staggered back to plop her butt on the bed. This drew a few more chuckles from her. “I'd be better off bare foot!” she exclaimed. Then realized that she was half naked in the presence of her son. “What are you doing here?” I knew she meant back home. “I forgot something, and came back. What were you. ”“No. But it may be mine. I’m going to call Al and ask about his intentions.”“You sound like a Victorian parent.”“No, I’m here in New South.”Patrick stared at her for a moment. “You’re not supposed to make bad jokes! That’s my department!” He grabbed her. “And that’s why I love you.”“And I you. Let’s put the groceries away and then you can show me.”“My pleasure, madam.”At around 2000, Rachel went into the bedroom to call her brother. She was in there for half an hour. When she emerged, she. Ignoring the looks of the others, she deftly peeled the red spiny skin and popped the white fruit into her mouth. Mmmm ... she needed that. Getting down to the seed, she debated whether she should just eat it, despite the rather bad taste when uncooked, but decided to just be herself. No need to act all proper in front of her new companions. Turning her head, she spit the seed out."Don't worry," she told Nona, "I'll grab it in a minute."Making sandwiches in space requires a certain skill.The. I didn’t know what had happened, but Maria just didn’t cometo school one day. I knew Maria and Tanya were supposed tohave done something together that weekend, but when I askedTanya if she knew what was up with Maria, she just smiled.I tried calling Maria over and over again, but her motheralways told me she wasn’t taking any calls. Finally she justasked me not to call anymore. Weeks passed, and Maria neverreturned to school and when I went over to her house I wasshocked to.