"I could probably do it," I said, "but I'm not going to. She doesn't want to have a birthday party. To be honest, most of those girls probably won't c...ome over anyway."They gave up.Mom and Dad went up to Minnesota for a week in May, to find a place for us to live. They trusted me, as a sixteen-year-old, to take care of my brother and sister that whole week. It was probably because I had a driver's licence.Somehow, I got conned into allowing Shinka to invite Tim over that Friday night. Tim came. She shivers with delight and squirms against Wilson as she turns to kiss his lips. "Miss me?" He runs his hands along her back while staring into her eyes and chuckles, "Of course, and I wouldn't want you to steal all of the water..." She swats his arm as Hector chimes in to their side, "You two need to get a room, and while you're at it see if there's a deal for a second one." Tina giggles as she sashays into him, while he receives a high five from Wilson, and says, "Isn't he funny?" "The. Gretchen was not in the bed. He sat up and scanned the room but she wasn’t there. He saw the ivory parchment envelop on her pillow. It was addressed to ‘Allan’ with a lipstick smooch beneath his name. Maybe she had gone to breakfast and wanted him to meet her there. He opened and read the calligraphic message. ALLAN, HAPPY BIRTHDAY, BUDDY, FROM YOUR BEST CLIENT. I understand the reality of this message is going to be a downer after such a potent encounter with Gretchen but I am in awe of your. "Oh this is much worse than what you did to me, Sean. You hardly knew me, so rejecting me was nowhere near as bad as what your little Brenda has done to you. She never mentions your name, it's as if you never existed. She lives for Aiden."When Hassan described the banquet that Aiden had hosted for Brenda's birthday I knew that it was around the end of March. That was the first reference point I'd managed to get since I had woken up in the cell.A year and a month had passed since Hassan had.