My faithin the Mater was all consuming, and this was the least I could do tohonour her."May I join you?"Looking over my shoulder, Lynthia stood above ...me, a red kimono wrappedaround her frame. I patted a spot next to me with my free hand."Sure, I could use the company."Sliding under the railing next to me, she placed a comforting arm aroundmy shoulder, and cupped my free hand with her own."I thought this procedure, or sacrament, or whatever you call it wassupposed to be done in the. Jennifer came in wearing a tight blue sweater and those ripped jeansthat all the young girl's wear. Cami, Wendi, and the other girlscrowded around. Jennifer asked me for her coffee in front ofeveryone. It was totally embarrassing, but everyone knew that I was tobe her assistant. I fetched her coffee the way she liked it.Jen said, "You guys must be a little intimidated working for me becauseI am only 17. But I promise to be a good, fair boss. Feel free toshow me things and bring in your. It surprised her a little how this part of the city looked older than the rest of it. There were still a lot of private owned stores along the road, and it seemed they were doing enough business to keep them afloat. In fact, they even seemed to do very well.Sandra knew that when those big shopping malls had opened in the city, a lot of the stores outside of the city had closed their doors, or moved into one of those shopping malls. Especially in the area she lived in, there weren't many stores. "You boys ain't huntin on my prop'ty are ya?"One of them pushed his hat back on his head and grinned up at me. "Jes' a lil coon huntin' Mr. Brenneman, sir. This hyere's that Franklin girl that run away the other day. Thought the hounds was gonna tear her to pieces afore we got there."I squinted in her direction. There were a few tears in the dress, and she was somewhat dirtier than before, but otherwise she looked OK. "Don't look too much the worse for wear. You boys wa'nt out there long enough.