She was young, she was beautiful, and thequestionable nature of the 'entertainment' made herdelirious with excitement. There was, of course, another r...ason for hertremblingly pleasant anxiety.Adjusting a wayward bra-strap, she began unbuttoningher jeans, progressively revealing the lacy tops ofher high-cut white briefs. In a matter of minutes,every inch of those skin-tight Lycra panties would bevisible to every person in the bar. She could feel asubtle flush rising to her cheeks, tinting her. I’ve never met a beetle who didn’t leave tracks.’ ‘They?’ prodded Lei, encouraged by the length of Black’s sentences. ‘The beetles.’ ‘Tracks?’ prodded Lei. ‘Marks left in the ground by footprints,’ snarled Black. Lei sighed. Attempting a conversation with Black was always hopeless. ‘It was a child that found me,’ said Black. ‘His name was Erric but everyone called him Bubbi. I was wrapped in leaves held together by straw. Only my face showed. Bubbi carried me home to his mother.’ Lei dared. In the time since, the two silently used their shared secrets to bond as sisters, and that bond was further helped when Susan hired Missy Arnovsky to be her full-time sitter. An excellent Spanish student, Missy became a great companion and also helped Maria through hours of what otherwise would be tedious, solitary translations.“Tell me all about winning the role,” Susan said when both had finally danced themselves out and collapsed onto the bed. But like many born performers, Maria could not. With this, I regained hope and quickly told her my own "Arianna.". We shook hands and I allowed my fingers to hold on to hers for just a beat longer than normal. If she didn't know what I wanted by now, she was clueless. She looked surprised for a moment and then realization dawned on her. She became much more animated, asking me about my life, where I was from, what I did, etc. I was very vague, of course, but obviously my answers were good enough for her. I found out that she was.