Around her were a small gaggle of other women. I recognized June immediately and in front of her, a woman that I suspected was Ji and Xinyi’s mother... based on her features. Most gave me discrete looks as Linda waved briefly as if obeying protocol. The exceptions were June who waved enthusiastically and Mrs. Gou who gave a tiny wave and whose gaze lingered on me. The only one who pointedly did not look at me was one of two African American women there. I wondered if she might be the mother of. It wasn't as 'in your face' as it had been when the Goddess made her appearance. But still, he had it! I also sensed acceptance from him. If not love, then at least he liked and respected me. I had impressed him.I wondered what it had been like to be around his father, if this is what the son felt like. It also made me wonder about my dad. I didn't really have any memories of him, or my mother, thanks to Markus.I finally wound down, and Fithian looked at me."Paul. You have had a trying life.. .It was a rainy Saturday and we were having the usual conversation with John (I've changed the name and wont share his real name) about what to do in the evening. We were looking at some party agendas online to see if there was anything that we liked and decided that there was lots of things to do, so we went outside first to get us some drinks and get in the mood at home while preparing to go out later.It was a bit cold outside and once we got back home, we set the heating higher to warm up. "What is it?" I asked."Do you want to go to jail?" he asked.I drank the vial down. It tasted like cleaning solution. Greg opened the door and the officers stepped back in. They handcuffed me and started to put me in squad car."Wait," Greg said. He called the EMTs over. "Take a sample of his blood too," he said.One of the techs ran back to the truck and came back with a needle."Roll up your sleeve sir," he said.Greg smiled as the squad car pulled out of the driveway.My arm stung like hell from.