I thought I’d give it one more try and called her. I knew it was late but I needed to give it a try She answered the phone, ‘Hello.’ ‘Hi, Darl...ene, it’s me. We need to talk. Do you have a minute?’ ‘I have company right now. We can talk another time,’ replied Darlene. ‘I’m alone here at the bar. I dropped Amy off at her house and went back to see you. I was told that you left with Brad. This is the last chance for us, Darlene. If he stays with you tonight, we will be done forever,’ I replied. I. ”“I think you’ll find it takes a lot to shock me.” I said, smiling as I gestured my daughter inside. She had to duck under my outstretched arm to get through the door, and as she passed me I dropped my arm around her shoulders and casually pulled her against me in a hug.“You right there, dad?” Kara said wryly, but she put an arm around me as well and hugged me back. “You shouldn’t be hugging young girls out in the open like this. What would the neighbours think?”“I don’t think anyone could. One night, less than a week prior to the two-year anniversary of my arrival in China, a critical point was reached.It was just before bedtime; Wendy had already tucked herself in under the covers. The light in the bedroom was turned off, although the door was open and the living room light provided partial illumination. I came in to say good night and, as we often did, we got into a conversation, with me seated on the bed.My back was bothering me a little that night. Working all those hours in. That first foster family she'd gone to had been as bad as she'd always feared, back when she'd considered going to the police about her father's abuse. It was almost as though the District Attorney's Office had made sure she'd end up in a rank shithole to punish her for not cooperating with their case. The house was a small, single story ranch in the most ghetto parts of the city, and Amy was just one of four foster kids the state had entrusted Charles and Sarah Farris to care for. Charles, the.