I took off my shirt and bra, and put on a pullover sweater. It wasn’t all that thin, but the neck was low cut. Mother won’t let me wear it without...something under to hide my cleavage. But she wasn’t here to stop me. I looked at myself in the mirror, and I was showing so much titty it embarrassed me. But that’s what I wanted mister David to see. On the way over to his apartment, I kept trying to talk myself out of seeing him again. Something inside me said that what I was doing was wrong! The. She was questioning her decision now, but only a little. She seemed to be catching on quickly, and though she had never actually managed to land a punch or a kick on Christi, her teacher praised her for her form. Christi put out a hand to help Arilee rise, which was the polite thing to do since she had planted Ari on her behind with a grab of her ankle a moment before. ‘I told Cerebus that you were a born fighter, and I was right. With a little practice, nobody is going to want to lay a hand on. I had to wear a dress, but I was still happy.’ Marilyn watched as the big woman spoke. Not many people could, or would wear leather in the dog days of August, but Trinity could, and Trinity did because she could. Marilyn saw a potential with her, an iteration of a dream past, a wanton desire to do something with her life that somehow she passed up. It was a long, held-back sadness. ‘How come you never became a nurse?’ Marilyn asked. ‘I hate school,’ Trinity replied blankly. ‘I like helping. Amanda smiled at him and said: “See, it may not seem so at first, but Janice and I have a lot in common.” She took her popsicle, wrapped the foil off it and opened her lips widely. Then she shoved the popsicle in her mouth as far as she could, sliding it back and forth. Janice giggled at first, then she followed Amanda’s example. The two girls made a little game out of it who could get the popsicle in the farthest. Amanda won, of course, as she had the most experience with making room in her.