We are, after all, my school's Symphonic Band, not the Concert Band.Why would I bother getting the others in tune and isn't that the director's job? W...ll, to answer that is simple. Our Band's Director is my Saxophone instructor, so he knows me well enough to know I can do the job of getting us tuned and warmed up. My fellow band members are all very professional, for being high school students. They don't mess around once we start, and they have all learned that I'm not a teacher's pet, but am. ‘Please Countess,’ I begged. ‘Show mercy. Not for me, but for those others. No matter what you think they have done, no matter what power you think you have, stop what you’re doing. Show mercy that one day mercy may be shown to you.’ She threw back her head and laughed and I heard the madness in her laughter. ‘You peasant scum. Mercy is only for the weak. Francois, teach her to keep her mouth shut. I want to see blood dripping down her back!’ ‘Yes Milady,’ smirked the sweating man. He drew back. 22 rifle from the bedroom and chased Alex Sr. from the house, firing shots at his fleeing heels. He sped away in the family car and did not return until the next morning, hat in hand. That was another family "legend" -- the night Dee shot the heels from Alex Sr's boots.It was a perverse jealousy, for Dee was faithful and Alex Sr. was not. But, he believed that if he could "play around," then Dee would also.Graydon was asleep. He and little Alex had waited up late that Friday evening until Dee. Usually she was just told what to do like a robot. She did seem to relax a bit as she told him she was barely sixteen from a very poor family but knew that she needed an education to get ahead in the world. For people of her social class, there was no public school. She had looked and looked for a job that would pay enough to even allow one year of schooling. This one had the potential and, while not thrilled about the scope of duties that were revealed to her, she swallowed her pride and.