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way I get around things sometimes."

"I guess I did a combination of both," I said.

"But not in the beginning I was too nervous and afraid

to do that. As I said, all I had to do was mention a

girl's name and my mother would stop whatever she

was doing and turn on me.

"'Where were you with her? What did she say

exactly? What did she mean by that? Who are her

parents? Where does she live? What does she look

like?' "She would -ask her questions in shotgun

fashion, shaking her head and spitting out another

before I had a chance to answer the one before. The

more I didn't know about the girl, the worse it was.

Usually, she would end by forbidding me to talk to

her again and I'd have to remember to never mention

that girl's name."

Jade spun angrily on Doctor Marlowe. "How can you let her continue to live with such

a monster? She hits her. She won't let her make

friends. She treats her like she's something dirty. Why

don't you tell the authorities?"

Doctor Marlowe closed her eyes softly and

opened them with a gentle smile.

"Cathy has a great deal more to say and you

should hear it all before you come to any conclusions,

Jade. You wouldn't have liked it any other way, would

you?"

Jade turned back to me, still fuming, her arms

wrapped tightly around herself, her eyes bright with

anger.

"Your mother's a Nazi," she muttered. I didn't laugh or reply. I waited for a surge of