We know by the end of the season they’re going to be getting grimy.”“Pads. Chest, ribs, and shoulder. This is a contact sport, so we try to keep...the bruises down as much as possible. Uniform jersey, shirt. Again, we’ll issue you those, four sets. Same rules as the leggings. Let’s get the pads on, so I can see what’ll fit you. Okay, that puts you right here, so ... for jersey number ... is eight okay? We don’t have anyone else using that number this year on either the JV or the Varsity, and I. I apologized and asked how I could redeam myself. She said ‘well’ and paused. My yard is a mess since the last rain I could use some help pulling up weeds. So I agreed to come out that weekend and help her out. When I got to her house a truck with gardening equipment was driving off. I rang the doorbell and she came to the door in her robe long gray hair down to her shoulders. Her yard was already done so I asked her, what do you need me to do? She took me into her bedroom and she dropped the. "As a matter of fact, I pinched it from the dentists' waiting room this morning, when I went for my check-up."But she wasn't going to drop the subject. "So what's so engrossing, I wonder? Kim Kardashian's new hair colour? Prince Harry's latest squeeze? How much Princess Diana's collection of panties will sell for at auction?" None of the above." I continued reading. "It's an article about home-made wine, if you must know."It wasn't of course. But I was darned if I was going to give her the. I had salads and a baked chickenprepared for them with tall glasses of iced tea."Juliette?" Keisha said. "Would you do me a favor? Would you stand onone foot." One foot?" Please."So I stood on one foot, my left foot balanced in the air, the heelhovering above the floor. There was no purpose to it, of course. It wasjust Keisha showing who was in charge. Wasn't it obvious? She was.Did I want this? Did I need it? Maybe a part of me did. I certainlyneeded Keisha and her strength, her power. She was.