She!

the room. *** 'What have you guys been doing?' Mommy said as she looked at us with a smile.

Billy said, 'We were wrestling.' Then he made a muscle and said, 'I won, of course.'

'I sort of lost,' Marshall said in his typically honest manner. 'But I think she cheated.'

'You mean you were wrestling with Minni?'

'Huh uh,' Billy said matter-of-factly. 'Sue. She pretty much beat Marshall but I beat her, so it's okay.'

'Marshall tired me out so it was easy,' I said with a grin.

'You guys aren't supposed to be wrestling in the family room,' Phil said with a smile.

'Ah, dad. There's nothing we can break or anything,' Billy said.

'How about the TV?' he said. 'If you guys feel the need to run off some of that excess energy, take it out in the backyard after dinner. Okay?' We all nodded.

It seemed strange that I could win over the boys in the same way as a female human as I had as a dog.

They finished their dinners quickly and pushed me to do the same. As soon as I'd finished, Marshall almost pulled me from my chair to follow him to the back yard. I insisted on wrestling Billy first, supposedly while I was still strong enough, and used the knowledge I'd gained over numerous years to easily best him, using my advantage only to lick him all over the face. I refrained from kissing him, as I could have several times, for fear of escalating our relationship too early.

After he'd given up, Marshall came at me like a whirlwind. Both of us laughing all the while, I let him get the best of me. He ended up sitting rather unceremoniously on my breasts, his shins painfully against my biceps, and kissed me everywhere on my face I would allow him. He stopped finally when I started kissing him back, forcing him to kiss me on the lips a couple of times that resulted in boyish yucks.

Minni and I left them wrestling with each other and returned to the family room.

Chapter 4

'Sue,' Phil said. 'Could I talk to you for a few minutes?' I nodded and followed him to the kitchen, letting him hold a chair for me. He sat down at the chair next to mine and looked at me.

'You seem to have impressed my family,' he said. 'Perhaps I'm a little overly careful. But I need to learn a little more about you than I know now. Do you mind?'

'No, sir,' I said quickly, following it with a nervous smile in character with what I believed him to expect.

'Okay then. Would you tell me a little about your life? I mean, I know what you told Molly. But I need a little more before I feel comfortable with you in my home with my children.'

'Yes, sir,' I said. 'What can I tell you?'

'What about your parents?'

'They were killed, sir,' I said quickly. 'A car accident.' That had been the real Sue Love's tale. I thought it was true though she only told me as her dog friend and not another soul.

'And you have no other family?'

'No, sir.'

'When were your parents killed?'

'About two years ago. Spring. It's spring now.'

'Yes. So how have you been living since then?'

'Well, first they put me in an orphanage,' I answered. Sue had been in an inner city orphanage for almost a year before her escape.

'Why aren't you still there?'

'They were mean, sir. And there was one man who was supposed to take care of us at night.' I turned my face away. The anguish I felt was real though it was only secondhand.

'He was a bad man?'

'Yes, sir. Very bad. At night, he used to make some of the girls go to his office.' I'd heard Sue talk about this with another girl and it still made me mad that I didn't know the man. That I'd never heard.

'Did you go to the office?'

'No, sir. I knew about when it was going to be my turn and I left.' Sue hadn't been so lucky but I thought this better than secondhand information. I could say to myself that I hadn't personally experienced what she had those awful nights that so changed her life and the way she looked at the world.

'So you got out before anything happened?'

'Uh huh.'

'How did you live then?'

'There are lots of kids on the streets now,' I said. That was the truth. Thousands of youngsters. Most warped by their experiences forever. 'I lived with some of them. You know. A few days or a few weeks. Then I'd move on.' Sue didn't have that luxury or the intelligence to do it. She'd fallen into a cycle of misbegotten love or, at least, a feeling of protection that had been torn apart by boys who had taken advantage of her love before throwing her out or trying to exploit her for money.

'You told Molly that a lot of the people who looked after you were men – boys.'

'Yes, sir.'

'Did they – do anything?'

'Yes, sir. Sometimes. They wanted me to earn my keep. I tried but I couldn't do it.'

'I see. So you were, ah, never…'

'A hooker? I don't know. I never did it regularly or anything. But a couple of times, I didn't have a choice.' I looked, embarrassed, at my hands. I knew this had to get to him with a daughter my age. 'There were times when I was very hungry. And the people, the men, weren't really terrible. There was only a couple of guys and they were nice to me. Mostly, they wanted to take pictures and that was okay.'

'Pictures,' he hissed. He was seething with hatred for these men as I had been when I first heard Sue talk of it. With her, it was pictures and much worse. They'd hurt her very badly and, even before her encounter with the three men who killed her, she might not have survived long. I sought them out but never was in a position to find them. Perhaps I'd have another chance.

'When you haven't eaten for three or four days…' He stopped me with a raised hand.

'I understand.' He looked embarrassed with himself before he asked the next question. I thought I knew what it might be. 'Sue. Are you still a virgin? I mean I understand…'

'Oh, yes sir,' I said without hesitation. Of course, in this new body, I was. I also knew it would make a difference in how he looked at me. I wanted his respect and, for a teen, this was one measure of that. It would assuage many of his fears.

'Would you mind too much if I asked Molly to make sure of that?'

'No, sir. If you think that's necessary.'

'I'll talk to her about it. I'm not sure. Maybe tomorrow or something.' He look up into my eyes again. 'Of course you'll stay with us tonight, Sue. Okay?'

'Oh, yes sir. Thank you. It's still pretty cold outside.'

'I can imagine. Tomorrow though, I want to make some discrete inquiries. After all, if you're with us for very long, we'll need to get you into school. And we'll have to clear up your background formally.' I smiled.

'I'd love to be able to go to school again. I haven't been for about a year.'

'Well, probably it's too late for this year. There's only a couple of weeks until summer vacation. But maybe in the fall.' I was ecstatic and let it show. He was talking about letting me stay, just as I hoped he would. I jumped to my feet and threw my arms around his neck.

'Okay then. We have to get one thing straight, okay?' I looked into his eyes waiting for what he said. 'I'm Phil. Not 'sir'. Okay?'

'Yes, sir. I mean, Phil,' I said with my bright smile.

'Okay then. Let's join the rest of the family.' He put his arm around my back and led me back into the family room where everyone was now watching a TV program. It was very comfortable. *** 'If it's all right with you, Minni, Sue can sleep with you tonight,' Molly said after the TV program was over and everyone was ready for bed.