”“Such is war.”“That wasn’t war. That was an idiot man with a fucking delusion. And someone gave him a deadly weapon.”“A molotov is just...as deadly.”“Bullshit. A molotov just splatters and quickly burns. That shit was like napalm, and unlike a fucking molotov cocktail, it didn’t come at me as a glass bottle with a burning rag attached to it. It was an innocuous little sphere.”“Not innocuous enough, evidently. Thank you for the feedback. I’ll make sure future devices are less noticeable.”This. She returned a few minutes later with two glasses of iced tea.“You want to watch TV?” she asked.“I don’t care, whatever you want to do is fine with me.” I muttered.We were watching TV for about twenty minutes when it dawned on me I had better call Ashley and tell her where I was. Even though my Dad was out of town, I knew he expected me to mind Ashley, giving her my complete respect. I dialed her cell phone number, she answered on the third ring.“Hi, did I wake you up?” I asked.“No, I am. ..." Ysabel began, then seemed to shrink into herself. "Si, shedrank the same _stuff_ that you drank, Emma." Why, for heaven's sake?" asked Yully.Ysabel grimaced and answered slowly. "The potion. He thought it wassomething else. It was dark. He was worried and sleepy, I think, andcould not see the bottle clearly. He -- it... it is complicated, but,yes, he is now a girl." What's he -- she -- gonna do?" Yully asked."He--_She_ is going to run Mama's laundry business till Mama is wellagain. . James tore at my shirt after pulling my jacket off, his hands eager to get at my skin, tender though it was over the only recently healed lacerations I had suffered. His hands, smooth in parts and rough in others, did not caress my skin. They pushed at my clothes, wanting to get them as far away from me as possible. The door felt cold against my back as my bra was thrown aside and my breasts mauled hungrily by his hands. “I need you. Now.” He grunted, not giving me chance to reply in anything.