While I waited for the next woman to arrive I started thinking maybe this was going to be harder than I thought. I had never imagined being turned dow..., and it happened even before I told her what I wanted. I heard a knock at the door, looked at my watch, she was 10 minutes early, and frowned. This one was eager, maybe too eager, I thought, as I walked over to open it.The next woman was short, about 5'2, slightly pudgy, and looked definitely younger than 30. I asked her age, she said she was. ----- ------- -----Mark handed Mrs. Cutler the stick when he got off the bus, and thenheaded out to the playground to keep an eye on things. The Grade 8boys, with a few of the Grade 7s, were playing baseball in one cornerof the play area, and asked Mark to join in. Mark knew he was wellahead of any of the boys physically, so he politely refused, but didvolunteer to be umpire. Normally disputes about balls and strikes, orwhether or not a boy was out on base caused games to degenerate intoarguing. Agle din subah utha toh dekha ki mami ki chehre se pata chl rha tha ki mai puri raat nhii soi thi main samajh gya tha ki raat ki meri baaton ka asar un par ho gya tha maine pucha ki ki mami sapna kaha hai tohunhone batay ki aaj uski kisi friend ka b’day hai toh woh wha gai hui hai aur shaam ko late maine sapna ko call kiya aur us se kaha ki aaj raat ko mat tu apne friend ke yahaan par hi ruk jaeio toh usne kaha ki ok thori der baad sapna ka call aaya mami ke phone par ki main aaj raat ko apne. My bedroomwas too small to perform in, and anyway, I didn't wantto run the risk of being discovered.By the time Mum went to spend the weekend at Grandma'splace, I was almost climbing the walls. If you'vesurvived puberty, you'll know how desperate thesituation becomes when you're a teenager struggling inthe grip of raging hormone levels. Finally having the house to myself, I pulled theensemble out of its hiding place in the wardrobe andcarried it down to the rumpus room. It was large.