No more humiliation. I was crestfallen but, with a few exceptions, everyone around me was rejoicing. I hung my hat on a hook inside my locker and sigh...d. Laughter and shouts of joy rang out all the way down the hall. Snickers and giggles greeted the few who had received their NAKED NOTICES.I closed my locker door and started to lock up ... But then I stopped. A smile turned to a grin as I opened my locker again and unbuttoned my shirt and hung it on a hook. Next my shoes and socks went on the. Instead her lips move to his ear and she whispers, ‘Je t’aime, mon Cheri.’ He feels the warmth fade as she stands and walks to the door. It doesn’t open right away and he knows she’s standing there, looking at him. He knows he should stop the façade, should stand the hell up, should take her in his arms and be her man and have her for his woman. And he knows he won’t do that. The door opens and her heels click and the door closes. And that is that one more time. He spends another hour in bed,. His back wuz slashed ta ribbons by a whip, an' his front wuzn't a whole lot better. He wuz conscious, but jus' barely, soz I knelt down beside him an' said, "Ya try ta be quiet, an' I'll go git my wagon ta haul ya ta the house. I'll try ta git back as soon as I kin."I climbed out of the gully an' rode a fast as I safely could back ta the house. I told Jane what I had found, an' she insisted on goin' back with me, cuz she wuz shore that I would need some he'p with the poor nigger. Jane bundled. Tom couldn’t suppress a grin at Dave’s reaction. In another moment, Dave released Ashleigh and reached to shake hands with Tom. Tom shook his hand warmly, then pushed the two of them into the house where they were greeted very warmly by the others. Tom found himself in an embrace with Diane almost immediately and tasted her lips for the first time. He decided right away that this was going to be an evening to remember. At the same time, Dave was being greeted by Sharon in the same manner.