The woman came to my table and pulled the chair back. As she started to seat herself she said, "I know you've been listening to Darlene and me talk. A...e you going to make a scene Jim or will you let me sit with you for a while? I really need to talk to you. I have put this conversation off for far too long and I need to get it off my chest."Now she really had my attention. I vaguely remembered seeing her in town a couple days ago when I had been here for coffee. For the life of me I couldn't. She managed to hold it in for over five minutes, but then she felt some of the watery brown liquid escape and soil her chemise and seep through to her dress.She had no choice but to raise her hand again. This time Fritz again strode over to her desk, but this time his hand drew back and he smacked her face with sufficient force to leave a bright red splotch on her cheek.Go! Go! You ungrateful child. Go!?She jumped up, and it was immediately obvious to the whole class that she had messed. "Hi, I'm Vanessa. That's a very nice dress." Her smile was tinged with an unusual combination of pity and interest. Vanessa was also very attractive, with long, dark hair in a spiral perm. "I understand you want a perm," she said. "That's great, because I'm the perm expert." I thought for a moment of correcting her and verifying that I just wanted my hair set on perm rods, but Sharon was looking like she might step on my foot again. I was sure that she would follow the instructions that Sharon. Hungry?”She thought about that too. She was hungry. In fact, she was starving.“I could eat something.” It was all she could admit to him.“You want syrup or jam? We have some peanut butter too.”“Peanut butter on pancakes?” She was astonished.“Several of my sisters won’t eat pancakes without it,” he said. “There’s no accounting for taste.”“Syrup is fine,” she said. It occurred to her that she was having trouble staying outraged.He went through the “Milk or juice or both” question, and put butter.