After a pause, she said, “Rissa couldn’t tell me what happened in the bathroom. She says she can’t remember. Something to do with the concussion...or whatever.”“That’s probably why she wants to talk to me, don’t you think?”“It might be.” The tone of her voice said she thought otherwise. After an awkward pause, she said, “I heard that when the doctors came you made them take care of Rissa first.”I shrugged. Then winced. I was going to have to learn quickly to stop doing that.“Well, I just wanted. In his room, my brother started to beat up jaya black and blue with a stick and she was crying and weeping for all she was worth. On my part, I simply watched the entire episode helplessly, not knowing what to do. Sudeep kicked jaya and again slapped her hard. Not bearing the sight any more, I went inside my room and locked the door. Jaya was sobbing uncontrolled and my brother was fuming in rage. I don’t remember when I fell asleep.The next morning was normal as usual as if nothing had. I told her it was no big deal but disappointing because I felt instant chemistry. She then tried to convince me that age wasn’t an issue. She attempted to convince me that he looked older than me if that was my concern and no one would bat an eye. She knows that public image is really important to me and that I worry about what others think so much that it affects who I am. That said, I was pretty down about it… I assured her there was no way that he and I were even compatible since we were. I only wished we had coffee. That had run out a year ago.I didn’t answer Tonko right away. We were definitely further down the slope from our valley than I’d ever been before, and we were probably further down than where whoever had fired the shot had been. With all the ravines and small, narrow valleys running across the slope of the land it was very unlikely that the shooter had been anywhere near this location. With a sigh I nodded my head.“Yes,” I told my two companions, glancing about as I.