. it just happened.”Phoebe stood up and went to the kitchen. When she came back she had a glass of orange juice. Her brow was furrowed. When she sat...down she looked at me for a few seconds.“I didn’t intend to lose my virginity when it happened, either,” she said. “A boy named Rodney did, though. Intend to do it, I mean. I thought we were just fooling around, but he got ... aggressive.”“Shit,” I said, softly. “He raped you?”“I can’t honestly say it was rape. I didn’t want him to do it, but I. Jake had taken every course she taught. She was his arbiter of ethical questions and his moral compass. Katie and LaMonte Dupree were still together and raising Katie’s daughter Rachael. They had also developed a new specialized hobby of taste-testing their way together through the fine dining establishments of New Orleans.Sven Johansson’s advertising business was booming. He had the Southeast covered now. Thornton/TnT and Turner Furniture were two of his biggest clients. Helga was as beautiful. I had kept my counsel for too long, I couldn’t hold it back any longer. Tenderly holding her chin, I gently kissed her lips and placed my mouth to her ear. Spoken with the softest whisper I could summon, “I love you Brigitte.” I eased back, my body pounded with adrenaline to wait for her response. Everything hinged on the next few seconds and those seconds felt like an eternity. The portents looked good, she smiled and leant it closer. “Good, because I love you too.” That was the moment I would. ”“I know you’ve been there yourself. I know that you understand that it is as much a repulsion as an attraction at the same time. The idea of a proud, independent woman being strapped to that thing and being exposed, bred like an animal is disgusting, degrading and demeaning in every way. At the same time it is erotic and exciting and draws us with a force that we can’t resist. But just think, for me the great, great grandchild of slaves that were bred on it, it is an even worse.