"It happened the first time by accident," he said. "We were in our teens ... not much older than you ... and she went on a date that didn't work out, ...nd she wanted me to ... um ... teach her something and ... well ... one thing led to another." He stopped. "It was an accident, but we love each other, Mandy. And I guess we just never stopped." What about my father?" she asked. "Did you do that when she was going out with him?" I didn't even know she WAS going out with anybody," he said. "She. Fuck!” I grumbled in annoyance.I glanced at the alarm clock. It was an ungodly hour to be roused. I lay in bed for a few more seconds, hoping that the pounding would miraculously stop. It didn’t. Finally I gave up and threw the covers aside in disgust. Gritting my teeth, I stomped down the hall, pulling up at Lara’s door.“Hey! Lara!” I yelled as I banged on it.My sister was blasting her new Madonna Like a Prayer cassette. It was a birthday present Aunt Beth had given her the previous night,. Then something catches her eye. There is a door slightly ajar that she can’t recall ever seeing before now. From it, she hears voices.Slowly, Tiffany walks toward the door. She doesn’t make a sound since she’s not wearing shoes. When she peers into the room she sees her mother on her knees and it looks like she is crying. Off to the right Tiffany sees a portion of Max. He is facing away and talking to someone.But who?Tiffany wants to go bursting into the room, but she is afraid. So she stands. I’d never heard her use some of the words she screamed at me. We hardly spoke to each other for two weeks, but at least she let me stay. If she hadn’t I don’t know where I would have gone. I never heard from Tom. Except for that last obvious message. I never got a chance to apologize, to explain. I never intended to hurt him. It just got out of hand. If he’d only given me a chance, confronted me when he’d first learned of my affair, maybe we could have fixed things. I would have done anything.