Her face turned sour."We tried, but even accounting for Billy's disability, it wasn't going to be enough. Unless I was willing to go into debt for the...rest of my life." Besides," she continued, "I still like sex and working let me be with men without the hassles of a relationship."I didn't quite understand that but the expression on her face when she said "hassles" discouraged me from asking more."So where do I come in?" I asked.Tamara sighed. "They're mainstreaming Billy at school. He got. "His royal highness, the Exalted Protector and Father of this Great Empire, Descended from the Holy Loins of the Goddess of the Sun through..."The man's voice fell silent instantly when the youth raised his hand. It was a much more powerful and natural display of body language informing of importance and prestige than that provided by Wong. The Human Amplifier wanted to object with every fiber of his being to his dismissal, but was simply unable to counter The Emperor's merest gesture. A tendril of fear trickled down Jeri's spine. Could this be a trap? WasTrisha going to betray her? What about the men Trisha had killed? Theoutpost had been littered with corpses in varying degrees of bloodshedranging from none visible to shredded pieces. In order avoid the goresurrounding her; Jeri had concentrated on the women she shepherded ontothe bus."No! If you try it will mean your death," she shot back."Do not mistake me for Ling. Let me and my companion pass undisturbedand I will not. I'm not sure you'll begetting your picnic though."Brian started crying. "Please!" he sobbed. Maria continued. "Even thoughit would probably take you days from here, don't bother making your wayback to the house, Brian. When I found out you were cheating I threw outall your possessions and clothes. As of now you're homeless and the onlythings you have are the clothes you're dressed in. Brian's crying gotmore intense. "Cry as much as you want, I've told you, it'll take a lotmore than tears to.