"Maria got up and went over to the com on the desk. Sitting down, she placed the call to the Jenkins' quarters.Shannon sat in her room, her teddy bear...clutched to her chest as tears dripped down her face. She was thinking of her family, all dead, in Reno. Rolling over in the bed, and covering her head with the blanket, she heard someone in the other room. Getting up, and going to the door, she locked it. She then struggled to move the dresser in front of the door. Taking a knife, she jammed it. ‘Hi, girlfriend,’ Elle said, glancing at Zoe sitting on the couch with wads of tissue surrounding her. ‘What’s wrong with you?’ ‘I don’t want to talk about it right now,’ Zoe said. ‘Done playing house with Ben?’ ‘Let’s talk in my room, I need to sort out my laundry,’ Elle said with a sigh and walked to her room. She pulled out the dirty clothes from her overnight bag and tossed them into the laundry hamper. ‘Ben had to work nights this week, so I stayed over to babysit his kid. So it was not as. .. you wouldn't even be considered black, in some cultures." But I am black," I said, "in this culture. And you may find that, occasionally, it makes a difference. When I'm away from the celebrity-jock limelight, it can get downright awkward. Humiliating, even." It doesn't seem awkward. Not to me," she said, "and I cannot imagine anyone having the power to... to humiliate someone as... as formidable as you." Humiliation can be subtle," I said. "Sometimes, it's so subtle that I would hesitate to. I RUBBED THE sleep from my eyes as I felt myself get picked up. Iblurrily looked up at Hannah and noticed she was already dressed inher uniform. "Good morning Princess," Hannah said to me with a smile."Morning," I mumbled. My eyes began to focus and I could see she wasalready dressed for the day. "You already showered?" Uh-huh," she said as she carried me to the changing table. "I figurea bath at night should be enough for you?"I thought for a second. "I guess normally... but I used to use that.