.." Don't, Betty, please don't..." ... and how you bore him a second child, a daughter." Betty, don't..." Then your father continued to screw you. And... you loved it, didn't you Veronica?"The mulatto stood mute, the memories cutting into her, opening the wounds afresh."I said, didn't you, Veronica?" ... Yes!" exclaimed the broken woman."But you caught him screwing your younger sister and in a fit of jealous rage you killed him. So you were sent off to prison and that's when the authorities. For a moment it was easy to forget that she wasn’t a normal 22 year old girl fresh out of her first year of college. “I am. I thought I was going to die. Some days, I wished I would. It would have been easier. But I kicked it. I don’t want to be alone tonight, Denise. Please?” I’m not sure if it was my body language, or her need for some kind of human contact, or the vulnerability of our loneliness being reflected, but it felt natural for me to open up my arms and let her step into my embrace.. Aren't you afraid?'"Of what?" Come on, Phyllis." That he'll grow up to be gay?" Of course," I said."You weren't worried about that when he was five and you couldn't waitto help me dress him up like a little ballerina for Halloween. If Iremember correctly, you made a two-hour round trip to your sister'shouse, just to borrow your niece's ballet slippers."It was true. Phyllis and I had taken great delight in turning Robin intoa little fairy princess. "That's not fair," I said. "He was only. All my family and friends live outside the city and I don't want to be alone. Not tonight. I thought that the safest place to be would be here, with Mia."Her eyes darted up to meet his and he could see them widen slightly as she realized that she had made a possible faux pas. "And you, of course," she added hastily.Tom couldn't help but laugh. "It's ok, I would feel safer with Mia than me, too," he replied reassuringly, "And, of course, you can stay here with us." Thanks, Tom," she said with a.