“I have got a gift for you,” I said after the moment he put the phone aside.“What’s that?” he was excited and sat on the bed while I went to... my cupboard and brought a nicely packed box.I handed him the box and he hugged me and kissed me on the cheek. By the look on his face, he was excited to see his expected gift. He opened the box and got even more excited after seeing the phone he wanted to buy for about a year.“I love you, didi,” he said and hugged me again and this time, he stayed there. My thoughts went back to when I used to get on the path and then stopping to strip so I could redress in slut clothes for school. That was before my parents found out what I had been up to. I also thought how mean it was that they kept it a secret for so long that they had helped set me up to be a whore and knew everything I did. I would have been glad if I had known up front, but maybe it wouldn’t have turned out as good.I got to the school yard and noticed the crowd of students waiting for a. Mommy flushesthe stool, it scares me some but I over come it. Mommy says she willsend for some clothes from home. She didn't, I think to myself, she hadthis all planed out from the beginning.I shake my head and return to my bed. Alex helps me up into the crib.Saying there you go squirt. Squirt very funny Alex I laugh to myself. Ifinish my drink when the nurse comes to get my plate. Kisha returnswith some colors and a coloring book for me. Power Puff girls. Ohbrother I say to myself.I start. For Cal’s part, Roxie could have guessed it. Fred Sherman’s fib of a few days before—and Cal’s accompanying one by his silence—came back to her. She thought about Junior, probably already at the Dew Drop waiting for her.“Well, he’s not really waiting for me. He’s just there available for me to meet up with him.”She scolded herself for letting Fred’s wise-guy joke lure her into a state of discontent. Maybe Junior was an option she settled for, and Junior settled for her. Cal had no options to.