. Ah, that's good."Cori whispered, "Who is it?"Aunt Joan mouthed the word, "Terri." "What was that, honey? ... Oh, that was so sweet of her to invite ...ouover. Does her mother know? ... I see. Will there be any other girls? ...And what about boys? ... Okay, that sounds all right. It looks like bothof my girls will be at sleepovers tonight. When you get there, I wantyou to give me a call and ask her mother to talk to me. ... You'rewelcome, hon. Just don't forget to call me.... I love you. Michele Bouvier had always wanted to be an airline hostess; the job was glamorous and exciting. After a few years the excitement wore off but the glamour remained. She was proud of her job and she took it seriously; she had never transgressed BOAC's code of conduct. But now they were tossing her aside so she decided that this last trip she was going to enjoy herself.As the senior stewardess on the flight she would be looking after the first-class section on the upper deck of the 747; there were. "My mom and me had a home there, and that can't just go away. I want to go home, okay?... But not yet. I mean, it's not like... Eddie, I'm supposed to be here for another four weeks... I don't want to have to think about leaving the whole time--alright? Please."Eddie's jaw twitched, and for a minute, I didn't think he'd let this drop. That would have sucked, too. Last night had left me feeling emotionally vulnerable and completely exhausted. Having to think about how the summer was almost over. Tony had heard of that in India, but not in Sri Lanka. The caste system, where people were born into hereditary occupational groups, with a carefully defined ranking, with intermarriage strictly forbidden, with brutal honour killings to suppress the lower ranks — wasn’t that long past, part of the dustbin of history?“What... what? We don’t have untouchables.”“Manjula’s ancestors were latrine cleaners. It would have been their job to clean up people’s shit — animals’ shit too. No one could touch.