"Sorry," I said, erasing the smile from my face, "I'll keep that in mind. I'll try to talk with her, though, with your permission. I'll be with her fo... three months. I'm sure we'll build some sort of relationship in that time. Maybe she'll trust me." Fine," she said, "If you find a way to help, I'll be thankful."Two days later, Thursday afternoon, I went to to pick the girls up from school. Their mother had left that morning, and had already given me the keys. This would be our first evening. Yes, I know. I just wish… I don’t know, Anne. Sometimes I just don’t know, I didn’t expect my life to look like this. He’s having a dinner party next week at his place. Twelve people and he’s having it catered. It’s a work thing. I just… I just never pictured that I would be the kind of person who goes to dinner parties like this. I don’t even know what to wear. I’m kind of nervous about it.’ ‘Well, Amy, just see how it goes. You might have a great time. Just try and keep an open mind. It’s. Stepping into a side street gave me a temporary respite from the biting wind. Rubbing my frozen hands, I tried to decide on my next move before everything shut. Jewellery was always a safe bet, but my wage packet would only stretch so far. After turning 16 six months ago, I had got a part-time job at a retail store. The pay was enough to let me be a bit more generous with gifts this year. But. I still couldn’t afford to visit the glass-fronted high street jewellers.Looking down the side street,. Doesn’t work that way. Can’t tell them that, though. That’d be the easy way. Everyone too fond of the easy way. Take Whore for example… Cops go easy on her, ’cause she’s easy and easy on the eyes. Easier to get a blowjob and take it easy than sentence her to hard time. Figure she’s a hard luck case, had a hard life–give her a warning, ease her into counseling. Cops don’t know. Whore killed Jon last week. Shoulda seen it coming, really. John Doe was a John of Whore, real name was Jon, ran.