" I couldn't help but cringe. Allison calling her 'mother' was never a good sign. I couldn't help but wonder if it was the amount of time they were su...denly forced to spend together, that along with the stress.Suddenly Allison asked, "Hey, are you listening?" and I realized I had been lost in my own thoughts and hadn't heard a word she had said."Sorry," I answered. "I got side-tracked when you called her mother, that's never a good sign. Are you guys okay?"She let out a sigh, "Truthfully? No.. He put the shoe box backon the stock rack and carried on stacking the boxes from the deliverythat had arrived an hour or two earlier.Dev smiled and gave Kyle one of those "if that's what you want" typeof looks before leaving the stockroom and returning to his office.------It was six weeks earlier when Dev had picked up the phone to hissister Kiran. Kiran was a social worker and had had Kyle's casereferred to her. Kyle had been a persistent young offender whilenominally at school, although his. By the time we got out of bed again and cleaned each other up, it was after nine. Fortunately, Daphne had slept late, and she was still in her room when we came calling. She welcomed us in, kissing me warmly, and smiling at Pat and Julie. Although I now knew her intimately, I found myself freshly amazed by her. Her rich mahogany-brown skin shone in the early sunlight, her long black hair flowed around her like a cloak. Her big round breasts filled her sweater marvelously. The Allens are. One other thing kept me from sending the drone, although the reason was related to feeling guilty, as well. That reason was the uptime people now living with me and in the other two communities. Most of them had adapted well to life in the here and now, but some hadn’t, and I knew that; knowing it made me feel guilty again.I spoke to Clara and Gabby about it, once spring was upon us and we were beginning a new season of activity designed to improve our existence in this world we were living in..