The sinewy instructor ominously tapped the switch against the newest student’s inner thigh to force her to do some additional sit-ups. Later in the...class Carmen took two cruel strokes across her backside for attempting to walk during the run in a hidden part of the path where she thought the P.E. teacher couldn’t see her. In the shower her face was flushed with embarrassment and her eyes were full of tears, so Maria Elena did not attempt to talk to her anymore that day. Two thin reddish welts. The other elements of the evening's conversation now came back to her too.Gavin smiled for perhaps the first time that day."It's okay, mom. Lizzie knows about me. She was the girl I saved from the rapist and she recognised me at the University," he said.Christine recalled now that she had thought there was something familiar about Lizzie when they had first met. As soon as Gavin explained who she was, she remembered the news footage that had shown Lizzie after the attempted rape.Gavin left. It pulled off the concrete roadway onto the dirt track that led to the quarters. The small unpainted buildings were set in a circle. Nine small houses each one room, twenty feet square with a door and two windows. They were not proper houses with sheet rock covering the wall studs, but the roofs would keep out the rain and each had a small kitchen with a pantry and two beds against the back wall. Now they were new, but unless they got a coat of paint they would weather soon and moss would grow. She pushed my head back down and lifted her pelvis up.“No stopping.” She admonished me, “Alice will find her own place soon, school will start, and I won’t get to spend time with Vicky.” She explained, “Sai hasn’t conceived so far; maybe she won’t. Either way, Vicky is ... she’s here now. Ready made. I’m 43 years old, Gus; I might not even have time to see a child grow up. You and Alice like each other, hell you’re flirting all the time, don’t think Sai and I haven’t noticed. You always have a.