Jamal said, "Alice, this is Mr. Cord. He's my history teacher. You haven't met have you?"I shook my head. I hadn't met any of the other teachers. Mr. ...ord was a short, middle aged black man. He was balding and he was very out of shape. He was only about five feet, eight inches tall but he must have weighed close to two hundred and fifty pounds.Jamal said, "I don't expect that I'll have any trouble getting a passing grade in English this year. Will I, Alice?"There was only one answer, of course.. ”“If I let you go, are you going to help me and Rospar?” he asked.“I don’t have a choice, do I?” she asked.“No,” he agreed. “You can’t hurt us, and you can’t remove the collar. But everything will be fine if you just do as I tell you, understand?”She swallowed. He knew she didn’t like this. She was from New Sappha, a colony of the exact form of extreme feminism the Galliards had been rebelling against. Heterosexuality in women there was as taboo and shameful as lesbianism had once been on. "Larry, it's for you." I assumed that it was Clara calling back to let me know about whether she could go with me to the movies Friday night."Hello." Larry, it's Denise. Can you talk?" For a little while. Kate and I need to clean up the dining table and do the dishes." I meant can anyone hear you?" No, I can talk." My parents are leaving Saturday to go visit my brother in Terre Haute." Denise had an older brother who went to Indiana State University. "They'll be gone all weekend, if you want to. "Can't. Dad is running a booth this year, and I have to work it. You could always stop by and visit though," she said with a sigh."I still don't know why they have to do it in the winter. A nice spring festival would be better. They could get rides and stuff," I groused."Hey, it's a business thing. Showcase arts and crafts, sure, but it's mainly for the businesses in the area to make a bit of money during an otherwise slow time," Brenda explained."Hmm, maybe I should do up a lawn and garden.