.” I trailed off, looking thoughtful for a moment before shaking my head. “Nah.”She’d heard enough of my banter to not be shocked. “Oh I don...��t need the bench, Mr. Russell. I’m sure I could perform a full examination if I should be inclined.”“You’ll have to clear me for duty first and I think there’s a sign-in sheet somewhere,” I teased.“You’re shameless,” she laughed. “I’m tempted to take you back down to X-Ray and throw you to the wolves.” She finally nodded. “Go easy, Matt. I know you should. Do all you want to them, torture them, beat them, whip them, I don’t care. All I want is for Will to come back to me and you’re my ticket to just that. So are you in?”“Ye-yes, Rachel. I-I’m with you.” Rachel gathered her things and walked from the room. She smiled to herself as she opened her locker. She kept a photo of her and Will back in eight grade taped to the back of it.“Oh, Will...” she said to herself as she touched Will’s face in the photo, “I still love you, Will and no one will stand. It was, and still is, a facade. Dad is a bitter, alcoholic, control freak with violent tendencies and a gambling problem. He has never been a good provider or father. The fact is, being obedient and productive helped avoid the lash of his temper. I never invited friends over to make it easier to hide our lies.I thought about escaping all the time. What kept me from running away was that outside the home, life was pretty good for me. I had three great friends, school rocked, and I lived in. It had some colorful logos on both sides. It belonged to the windows cleaner company…A young black guy went out of the van and he walked to our door.I watched as Ana opened and made small talk with this guy, offering him a cup of ice tea. He accepted and Anita poured a glass of red wine for herself.Their conversation went on for more than fifteen minutes; I could see my wife was a bit nervous, as she emptied the bottle of wine.Anita brought the conversation around to looks and being an older.