. yes."I sighed, sat down at the kitchen table and dropped my head into my hands.Erica refilled my coffee cup and sat down across from me. After a mom...nt of silence she said, "We call these people lads but they are adults one and all, Miss Lacie. They are all well aware of the risks of working here; they accept those risks because they love you and the Cutters. Whether you know it or not everyone here considers you three his or her family. In fact even my people have become emotionally involved. ? Just then Josh lunged toward me and grabbed ahold of my blouse and started ripping it off. He was soon joined by the other boys who exuberantly began to wrestle me to the floor and started stripping me. There was no attempt at doing this with any dignity. No, they were like a pack of starving, wild dogs pouncing on the first piece of meat they had seen in days. My blouse wasn’t unbuttoned. It was literally ripped off my chest and tossed on the floor. The boys were yanking on my skirt and it. I could see at least a dozen more. Jared thought we'd see a lot the first few days, but that number would diminish as the novelty wore off. There'd always be a few around, though, something we'd have to get used to. I didn't like the idea of people spying on me, but I liked the idea of going to a dumber high school even less.By Friday it was apparent everyone was resigned to the new regime. The doors were very popular, and it was easy to find a place to eat in the atrium. We met in the computer. For that matter she had John and little Garcia, but their families were far away. She and John had regained some of the intimacy of the earlier times and had enjoyed their time together in Gorky. But, at the same time, she had little trust in him when he was way out of her sight. Jana Ivanova stalked their lives like some chill wind from the North. She was helpless before that force of nature.She'd kept the copy of 'Red Star' with John and Jana's grainy photo on the front page. They were.