* Johnny ‘the slice’ sat sipping a hot cup of tea in the greasy café on the corner of the shopping parade. He was nursing a small hangover and hi... stomach was rolling along with his head. Last night he had been on the look out for any information on any jobs being planned as he was now broke, the money from the last job he had pulled all lost on the dogs and horses that he had bet on over the last couple of days at the local bookies. Cursing his bad luck, he shovelled a forkful of fried sloppy. The ladies toilet opposite, meanwhile, wasa veritable palace in comparison, which made it a social hotspot of sortsfor the various cliques of girls that the school was home to. As hewaited in the corridor, squeezing his legs together and trying to thinkof anything but waterfalls, Danny overheard a loud, impassioned exchangefrom voices he recognized in the girls bathroom.?Jeez, I know! I knew he was an asshole before I even slept with him,but? I?d just turned Nick down, and felt shitty about it.. "I got to go pee, back in a minute."Mom came in from the kitchen. "You didn't make her walk home, did you?" Mother, sometimes you are brilliant and sometimes ... not so much. Hmmm, I smell breakfast. I'll take her home after we all eat." She doesn't have to. Michael brought her a change of clothes when he came back, last night." Ohh, did you guys do the horizontal shuffle again?" I said yawning and unfolding my legs."He stayed a while, but left about one am. He had to go to work early," my. ‘I guess I am. I’m Luke Rydell and this here is my friend, James Hytree.’ Dakota nodded at James and said, ‘Hytree? Are you any kin to Sarah Hytree from the reservation?’ James’ smile faded and his eyes narrowed. He answered slowly, ‘You know a ‘Hytree’?’ ‘I sure do! In fact, Sarah is one of my connections to the reservation. She is actually Cherokee from the West, but has been living here for the last few years. Are you Cherokee or Navaho?’ Dakota asked. James’ face was frozen. He hadn’t moved.