Chapter 39

Lon was the first to realize that Fernando was out. Randy started to back out of Marta, but Lon stopped him, "Yo, stop!"

"What's up?"

"Pussy Boy isn't with us right now..."

"Yeah?" Randy was in no position to tell.

"Out like a light."

"Well, he wasn't Fernando the first time I fed him dick, I don't think..." Randy muttered. "Better wake him up -- I'm shrinking..."

Fernando's nipples hurt. "Wakey wakey," a distorted voice said.

Fernando opened his eyes; the blond male was twisting his nipples. "Ow."

"Welcome back."

"I went away?"

"For a while, maybe -- although you were awake for a lot of it." The blond boy moved, reminding Fernando where his cock was. "I'm guessing you were out there for a while, enjoying the party -- then your brain tried to reboot -- and you crashed..." Lon pointed out the joining above Fernando's head with his eyes.

Fernando looked up -- and flinched. There it was -- the vagina he'd once had exclusive access to -- full of black cock, with a ring of white goo for an accent. He looked back at the blond boy, who grinned. "You're on cleanup duty."

Randy took this as his cue and backed out, presenting Fernando with a half-erect, gooey cock -- and a flood of dammed-up fluids from Marta's vagina. "Oops! Better get that before it hits the sheets! I'll wait," Randy chuckled.

Only the fact that he'd done it before allowed Fernando to do what was required. Cleaning up Marta was actually harder than sucking the softening black cock afterward; there was just something about seeing it pour out like that... Fernando was nauseated. By the time he was done, he was good for nothing but a trip to the bathroom to vomit and then collapse. Randy and Lon bound him and left him in the Reyes' guest room for the moment. Lon -- and just about everyone else -- then evacuated as Hank arrived with Maddie and Pietro; Randy stayed behind to act as a guard. When he went back into the bedroom to check on Marta, she was lounging against the headboard, still nude. "Are you all right?" he asked.

"I'm fine," Marta nodded, adding, "I could become addicted."

"Yeah, wouldn't THAT be awful!" Randy laughed.

That thought process occurred elsewhere, too. Jiang Yi and Frank slept late -- largely because neither of them was used to having a bed partner. Frank tended to sleep on his back, normally -- but for some reason, kept waking up spooned against Jiang Yi, which wasn't comfortable for either of them in the dead of summer. Eventually, they resolved the issue two ways: Frank got up and turned down the thermostat so they could get more cooling from the air conditioner, then threw off the blanket -- and Jiang Yi bent forward a bit so that their only ongoing point of contact was Frank's cock against the crack of her ass. Jiang Yi figured that at some point the whole thing might become old hat and irritating -- but for now, it was new and novel and very pleasant having a man in bed with her.

Just about the time Fernando got to witness Marta and her first sex partner of the day down in what he'd come to think of as his dungeon, Jiang Yi popped awake to the feel of a hand grasping her left breast. "Hey," Frank grunted, rubbing an already elongated nipple between his thumb and fingers.

"Frank, I don't think I can..." Jiang Yi muttered.

"Oh, you could -- you'd just be sore, that's all," Frank chuckled. "But I've got friction burn, too, so why don't you see if there's anything decent for breakfast?"

"Oh." 'Back to the salt mines...' Jiang Yi struggled up. "Mind if I take a shower?"

"Nope. Want me to wash your back?"

"Sure..." The 'but' hung there in the air.

Frank chuckled. "I'll try to keep my hands out of your twat."

"Just let me heal a little bit. It's not like I don't..."

"Shut up," Frank muttered without heat. "I get it. If I really want it, you'll give it up, anyway, right?" Jiang Yi nodded, looking away. "Okay, then. I've got wood, but the damned thing is probably numb, anyway. Let's just go get wet and clean and we can worry about fucking later."

The fact was that after two nights of sex, both of them were momentarily sated. Neither of them wanted to admit it, particularly -- and CERTAINLY neither of them wanted to shut off the supply after their mutual drought -- but they weren't teenagers and they'd both been busy in ways that their recent off-and-on bouts with others had only somewhat prepared them for. Thus, the shower, while certainly an intimate -- even sensual -- experience, especially for Jiang Yi, who got to luxuriate in the feel of Frank's hands as he caressed her all over under the guise of soaping her, wasn't the sexual experience it could have been. On the other hand, Frank's treatment provided her with another compensation for dealing with his brusque, dictatorial ways. If a man had ever worshipped and explored her body like that, it had been before Sonya was born; if she needed evidence that he was serious about his acceptance of her looks, this was it. As he wicked the water from under her small, splayed breasts with a towel, she asked, "Are you having fun?"

"Yeah," Frank chuckled. "Aren't you?"

"Yeah." Jiang Yi colored.

"Spread your legs, I'm headed south." Frank wiped down both of her thick thighs, then came back to her puffy labia and circled behind to do her ass. "Hey, lookie! There's a hole ain't been hit..." Frank chuckled when Jiang Yi eyed him owlishly to see if he was serious while wiping her calves. "Gimme a foot, Woman. Lean on the wall if you gotta." When he'd finished, she was good to go with the exception of her hair. "Better ask Teela where she keeps her hair shit -- AFTER you make me some coffee!" Frank announced, swatting her on the ass.

"What am I going to wear?"

"Fuck, I dunno..." Thus it was that Jiang Yi happened on the girls in the kitchen wearing a poorly-fitting men's bathrobe.

The girls had been up for a while; they'd not fared that well with a bed partner, either, and sex hadn't been THAT much of a distraction for them.

"Do you have a hairbrush and a dryer I could use?" Jiang Yi asked Teela.

"I brought yours in my bag," Sonya related. "It's upstairs."

"Oh, good..." Jiang Yi was mildly embarrassed that she'd been so focused on other things that such things hadn't occurred to her.

"There is a nightgown, too," Sonya added, her face carefully neutral. "If you want it."

"Cotton, or flannel?"

"Cotton."

Jiang Yi shifted her glance to Teela. What did she think of this invasion?

Teela grinned. "Poppa might want you naked."

Jiang Yi managed a smile. "Eventually he'll find his eyeglasses."

"That won't change anything," Teela replied blandly. "Poppa's a purist."

"Maybe, but there are others present."

Teela shrugged. "Skin doesn't bother me. Poppa and I don't do it, but I think it's more to keep other people from getting ideas than because we're shy. I've seen him and he's seen me -- recently."

"Coffee!" Frank announced himself, then looked around. "Y'all gettin' along?"

"Yeah, Poppa, it's all cool. Ms. Ho is just wondering what's decent. I was just telling her that she doesn't have to wear your old bathrobes for me," Teela grinned.

"Punkin..." Frank figured he'd better say something about the female invader.

"I'm WAY ahead of you, Poppa!" Teela grinned from ear to ear. "When's the last time a woman spent two nights in bed with you in a row?"

"That'd have been your mother..." Frank wasn't sure that helped any, but it was the truth...

Teela swept her gaze to Jiang Yi. "You remember that when Poppa gets all bossy -- you're not the only one with something to lose!"

"Oh, thanks! Ruin my authority, why don't ya?" Frank pretended to be outraged. Jiang Yi, having figured out who was serious and who wasn't, turned away to the cupboard to collect a cup for Frank -- and to smile without it being seen. She delivered the cup -- full -- to Frank, the soul of obsequiousness, then said, "I'm going to go fix my hair now."

"Don't get lost," Frank growled. "This ain't breakfast."

"Yes, Frank." Jiang Yi padded off. Sonya waited a moment, eyeing the other players, then rose to follow. Catching her mother at the stairs, she led her to the room she'd shared with Teela and produced the hairdryer, brush, nightgown, and a top and shorts outfit. Jiang Yi picked up the hairbrush and began tugging it through her coarse hair.

"So," Sonya asked innocently, "are we going home tonight?"

Jiang Yi looked away. "That depends on Frank."

"Why?"

"You KNOW he's a group member. You KNOW what he has on us because of it. Why do you ask?"

"Mom..." Sonya wasn't buying.

"What am I supposed to tell him? The goldfish needs feeding? That goldfish is too fat, anyway."

"Mom..."

"All RIGHT!" Jiang Yi stamped her bare foot, turning on her daughter. "Why would I want to rush off and sleep alone, anyway? Is that so great? Why would I want to stop this?"

Sonya broke into a grin. "At least now you're being honest about it!"

Jiang Yi sighed. "My flower, the last time I spent two nights in a row with a man was before you were born. Can you see how I might be reluctant?" She glanced around for a power outlet for the dryer.

"No, I understand, but..." Sonya pointed out a plug along the wall by Teela's mirror chest. "I mean, aren't you settling?"

Jiang Yi turned a look of consternation on her daughter. "You talk like you really believe I have a choice!"

Sonya shrugged. "Sometimes nothing really IS better than anything..."

Jiang Yi smiled crookedly, turning on the hairdryer. There was silence -- aside from the dryer -- for the minute or so it took to fluff out her hair. Putting the dryer and hairbrush down deliberately, she told Sonya, "Not in this case, my flower. I would be chasing Frank anyway. There is something indefinable about him..." She opened the robe and took it off, then stood pondering the selection of clothing her daughter had supplied her -- and chose the nightgown.

From Sonya's point of view, it was a telling choice. "Is he that good?"

"Oh, yes!" Jiang Yi nodded. "Maybe not for everyone, but for me..."

"You still sound like..."

"I'm settling?" Jiang Yi smiled. "If I could stand the competition, I might recommend that you discover for yourself, my flower -- but I can't. Just take my word for it. Besides," she looked away, smiling, "that's not all there is to it."

"If you say so." Sonya clearly wasn't convinced.

"I know how he must seem to you -- rough, ill-mannered, demanding -- but the things he says and does, they... resonate... with me."

"I saw him make you cry."

"And you know I was happy," Jiang Yi retorted. "Happy for the first time in..." She shrugged.

"Teela says he says things the hard way."

"Yes. Maybe that's it. Plain. Unvarnished. But real -- you don't have to look at a two by four to know it is real and not pressed wood with plastic over it. What you see is what you get -- maybe you get splinters, but you know what you're holding and what it will take. Frank doesn't say sweet things -- but sometimes they're there, anyway, just because you know he told you the truth." She sighed. "My biggest worry is that he'll say, 'Okay, it was fun. Maybe we'll do it again sometime.' And mean it."

"Teela says different," Sonya muttered, digging in the bag. "Panties?"

"Not now. What does she say?"

"He's supposedly as soft and gooey inside as you are."

Downstairs, Frank sucked at his coffee, eyeing his daughter. "That Sonya is a hot looking little number. She got a pack of boyfriends?"

Teela shook her head. "She's shy or something -- doesn't trust boys at all. She could be a lesbian, but I don't think she really goes that far. Jiang Yi is really her mother?"

Frank shrugged. "Maybe you should ask. Probably wouldn't be a good idea if I did. She looks like a mixed breed -- very... exotic."

"Exotic? Poppa, when did you hit the dictionary?" Teela teased.

"I got a couple in here..." Frank tapped his temple.

Teela laughed. Rough-hewn as he was, Teela knew that her father was neither a fool nor an idiot. "I think her father was black. I heard the guys say something once about how Jiang Yi wasn't popular with the Chinese community because of it."

"Yeah." Frank nodded. "They wouldn't be. Loss of face or some such. I've seen it." He sighed. "As if she didn't have enough problems."

"So, that's it?" Teela asked. "You pity her? She's a mercy fuck?"

Frank looked up, but Teela was grinning from ear to ear. "Yeah, that's it. That's my story, and I'm stickin' to it."

"How long do you figure she'll believe it?" Teela teased.

"Oh, I probably screwed the pooch already, but this thing is sorta like politics -- just because it ain't true don't mean it ain't official." Frank grinned over his cup.

"How long are you gonna run her ragged?" Teela asked.

Frank shrugged. "Long as I can. Ain't like she don't like it."

"You're a bad man, Poppa," Teela chastised -- but she was grinning.

"Nah. Ain't nobody getting' hurt here."

"You could hurt her -- bad!"

"What kinda fuckin' jackass would I be if I did that?" Frank retorted. "How many times in recent memory have I taken a woman to bed twice, period -- let alone two nights in a row?"

"Well, there was Adele..."

"Yeah, well, we both knew the score."

"What IS the score, Poppa?" Teela asked quietly.

"I got to spell it out for you?" Frank eyed her. "I like the little skank. I like fuckin' her and I like fuckin' with her. I plan to keep at it until one of us gets bored!"

"And if that doesn't happen?"

Frank pursed his lips and looked away. "We might hafta find a place for little Sonya to hang her shit."

"And how likely is THAT?" Teela asked archly.

"Too early to tell." Frank didn't look at her.

"Liar!"

Frank gave her the eye. "What the fuck do YOU know about it?"

"I know when you're happy, Poppa -- and you are!"

Frank shrugged. "Might not last."

"With her waiting on you hand and foot -- and sucking up every bit of attention you give her like a starving person? What could go wrong?"

"She'll get tired of it."

"Not for a long time," Teela predicted. "Too long. When that happens, she'll just renegotiate to get some of her dignity back -- but she won't go anywhere. She literally has nowhere to go!"

Frank eyed her. "So, you're tryin' to make me feel bad?"

"I'm just telling you I can read the writing on the wall, Poppa!"

Frank rubbed his face. "And?"

"And I'm fine with it. We'll put in bunk beds or something."

"Lookit -- marriage ain't in the cards. I don't ever want her that comfortable. They get to own you -- and the divorce laws fix it so you STAY owned!"

"She doesn't want your money, Poppa -- she wants your love!"

"Well she can HAVE that!" Frank shut up abruptly. "Maybe I said that wrong..."

Teela giggled. "And maybe you didn't!"

"Jeezus!" Frank got up and went to the kitchen doorway. "Woman!" he roared. "I'm fuckin' starving here!" Teela giggled again.

Jiang Yi came hot-footing it down the stairs. "I'm coming! I'm coming!"

"About damned time!" Frank growled. "I got her harassing me and I got low blood sugar, so I catch myself sayin' stupid shit..."

"Like what?"

"Don't YOU fuckin' start!"

Jiang Yi glanced at Teela, who pressed her lips together and shook her head, then got up and headed for the door. "I'll check on Sonya."

"She can't find the kitchen?" Frank grunted, then waved it off. What was he gonna do -- chase the three of them all over the house so they couldn't plot against him? "Bad enough with ONE female under this roof..." he muttered.

"You'll survive," Jiang Yi predicted. "You might even decide you like it." She started digging in the refrigerator.

"That'd probably be proof I was ready for the funny farm," Frank grunted, getting up. He started for the coffee pot on the counter -- but veered to the refrigerator to put his hand on Jiang Yi's ass. Jiang Yi stopped and turned her head to look at him. "No panties?" he ventured.

"No."

"Huh." Frank slid his hand beneath the short cotton nightgown and resumed fondling her ass -- directly, this time.

"Do you want me to cook?" Jiang Yi asked calmly.

"You don't use your ass to cook."

Jiang Yi nodded and started pulling eggs and bacon from the refrigerator.

Teela met Sonya on the stairs. "She's hopeless," Sonya muttered.

"Well, it's mutual," Teela whispered back.

"Really?"

"I just confirmed it. Poppa's bark is a LOT worse than his bite."

"So what's next?"

Teela shrugged. "We could go to your place and give them some peace tonight. Then there's Rick..."

"What about him?"

"Don't worry about it. Let's go eat."

Frank hadn't removed his hand when they hit the kitchen; Sonya goggled and Teela giggled. The pair shared a glance as Frank reluctantly removed his hand; Teela whispered, "Well, she wasn't exactly yelling and screaming..." In fact, Jiang Yi looked around to see why Frank wasn't fondling her, took in the girls, visibly thought about it, eyeing Teela especially, wiped her hands on a towel, collected Frank's hand, and slid it back under her nightgown. Frank, grinning, wormed it around front to rub her belly -- but the process left one cheek of her ass exposed. Frank positioned himself to mask it, more or less.

"Wow," Sonya whispered. "She's shameless!"

"Yeah... Poppa's all broken up about it, too, I see. Guys like that kind of thing," Teela replied.

"But..."

"Ownership. Guys are big on ownership. You'll find out. Hey, it isn't the supermarket..." Teela grinned.

"Well, maybe not. But you and I..."

"We're gonna have to put up with it. They're in love..." Teela batted her eyes and clutched her hands together at her cheek. Sonya erupted in laughter. Frank glanced around, glared, and rumbled, "Don't start no shit." Jiang Yi surreptitiously pinned his hand between her and the counter. Frank grinned then got a thoughtful look. "You know, you might not want to get anything on that nightie..." Jiang Yi eyed him sidelong, smiling, and reached for a towel.

"Okay! Okay!" Teela erupted.

"What?" Sonya glanced around, blinking.

"Poppa is threatening to have your mother go naked -- and she's cooperating, I think! Follow my lead..." Turning to her father Teela said, "If she goes naked, everybody else should, too!" and reached for the hem of her nightie. She nudged Sonya, who followed suit, worrying visibly if their bluff would be called.

It wasn't. Frank rubbed his chin and decided, "Well, you can always wash it. I don't want to start no shit." Jiang Yi actually pouted, causing Frank to ask, "You in a hurry to get nekkid again?"

Embarrassment overcame Jiang Yi. "I just like being touched."

Frank put down his cup, circled behind her, and lifted the nightie to rub bare skin with both hands, "I didn't say I was gonna stop..."

"Gawd! They're disgusting!" Sonya yelped.

"Get yourself a man and then tell me that shit!" Frank jibed over his shoulder. "Notice I don't hear that crap from Teela..." Teela shrugged and nodded agreement. "Why don't you two get outta here -- we'll call you when there's something to eat," Frank added. Teela nodded toward the door and the girls left. "She not into boys?" Frank asked.

"Well, it partly my fault. I've been telling her for years that all men are animals," Jiang Yi admitted.

"Yeah. And?"

"Well, it's sour grapes, mostly."

"Yeah, well, you was unappreciated, big time..."

"Yeah. What about now?"

"Don't start no shit, Woman!" But his lips on her neck left Jiang Yi shaking.

"So, how you doin'?" Fred asked Tabitha. They were in Fred's truck, taking Tabitha home. Somehow, sex and socialization hadn't mixed...

"I'm okay."

"I haven't seen you in a while. You been busy?"

"Sometimes," Tabitha agreed. "Off and on."

"Yeah, me too..." Fred searched for another subject. "You gonna be all right, comin' home the next day?"

Tabitha shrugged. "Momma was happy to get me out of the house last night -- but if she's hung over..."

"Huh. Need help with that?"

"Well, Momma's on this kick that if I'm having sex, I ought to bring her home money..."

"No shit?"

"Yeah. Everybody seems to think that's pretty awful -- but she DID pay to raise me..."

"Well..." Fred had heard some shit before, but this... "I'm sure she did, but don't your momma damn near live at the welfare office and the courthouse?"

"Well, yeah."

"How many of you kids got the same daddy?"

"Well, none of us, actually."

"And you think that ain't a coincidence?"

"Ummm..."

"More daddies is more money, Sweet Thang. Your momma grows kids for a cash crop," Fred said gently.

"What?"

Fred sighed. Tabitha was a fine fuck, but she wasn't smart... "Okay, lemme break it down for you. I KNOW you know more kids is more welfare..."

"Well, yeah..."

"Okay, then. If your momma had all of you by one dude, he'd be the only one she could chase for child support. But if each of you has a different daddy, then she's got five -- six guys to hit up individually -- so it's more money, see?" Fred waved his hands, trying to pull Tabitha along the road to enlightenment.

Tabitha looked a little green in the gills. "Well, okay, but..."

"Hey, maybe it wasn't deliberate -- probably not the second or the third time -- but... Is she planning on having any more kids?"

"Uuuhhh..."

Fred snickered. "Who's gonna raise 'em?" Tabitha looked thunderstruck. "And she wants you to hook." Fred shook his head. "Sweet Thang, I got to tell you -- you ain't SMART enough to hook!"

"Well, I know that, sorta," Tabitha admitted. "I got a couple of guys looking out for me..."

"What do they want?"

"Nothing." Tabitha shook her head. "Well, sex. But no money -- they both think Momma is the pits."

"Okay. Maybe they're okay," Fred mused. "You have to be real careful, though. Do I know any of them?"

"Uh huh. Rico."

"He's probably okay -- I'll talk to him. What's he been doin'?"

"He hooked me up with a couple of guys who gave me money for Momma. We partied..."

"Sounds okay. Look, if you got nobody else, call me, okay? I might want to see you once in a while, anyway -- you be a fine fuck," Fred declared, giving her a business card. Tabitha smiled at the compliment. "C'mon, I'll go in with you."

"You don't have to..." Real fear over Momma's reaction colored Tabitha's voice.

"Okay, we'll do this. You go in and leave the door open a little. If she don't give you shit in the first couple of minutes, I'll take off -- otherwise..."

"Okay." They got out of the truck and headed up the walk. A bit later, Tabitha was letting herself in, waving at Fred, hoping that that would be the end of it.

It wasn't. "Where the fuck YOU been?" Big Momma railed.

"Out. You wanted me gone!"

"And what was you doin'?"

"Hangin' with friends."

"Fuckin'?" Big Momma peered at her. "Never mind, I can see it in your face! Them needle-dicks give you any money? Nooo.... When you gonna wise up?"

"Shit, Momma! What kind of person puts her daughter out on the street for money -- and expects her to raise her kids? How come we've all got different daddies? Are we some kinda cash crop? You want me to get pregnant and live at home so you can take my checks, too, don't you? You said so, once..."

"WHAT? Who put that shit in your head? You... I... We... Get the fuck out! I don't even want to look at ya!"

"Welfare don't pay for me when I hit eighteen, do they?" Tabitha erupted.

Momma lurched up off the couch. "You get the fuck out of here! After you been on the fuckin' street for a coupla weeks, we'll see who's fuckin' who! Go on -- go in the other room and throw your shit in a laundry bag and get it the fuck out! You fuckin' ungrateful little cunt!"

"Shut your hole, you sorry old fat-assed bitch!" a voice roared behind Big Momma. She spun to discover Fred standing there. "You fuckin' SUCK! Kids to you are just money so you can sit on that big ass of yours and smoke dope! EVERYBODY fuckin' knows it!"

"Well, well! This your new old man?" Big Momma sniped. "I heard of YOU, Fred Carter -- and you ain't got SHIT to say!"

"I ain't put my kids out to fuckin' hook!" Fred retorted. "I may be a sorry motherfucker, but I ain't THAT sorry!"

"What's your old lady gonna say when you bring one home?" Big Momma sneered. "Go on, you silly cunt! Get your shit! You can see how things go when ol' Fred, here, shows up with your ass at his house! Git!" She shoved Tabitha.

"Go on -- we'll think of something," Fred told Tabitha. Tabitha got out of there.

The noise level didn't abate; ten minutes later, Tabitha had the vast majority of her things in a laundry bag and a basket -- but Big Momma insisted on getting the basket back, so they dumped the things in the bed of Fred's pickup. Tabitha waited to break down until they pulled away from the curb. "Now what am I going to do?" she wailed.

"We'll tighten you up, somehow..." Fred rubbed his head. A couple of blocks later, he pulled over and consoled Tabitha while dialing his phone.

Fernando had already been evacuated; Terence and Louise and Bonita were seated at Candace's kitchen table when Terence's phone rang. "Where's your mother?" Fred demanded.

"Working," Terence lied, holding a finger to his lips.

"Lookit, Tabitha just got thrown out by her old fat bitch of a mother," Fred related. "I need to get her a place to stay..."

"No shit? What happened?"

"Her momma gave her shit for not comin' home with money. Sorry-assed old cunt..." Fred groused. "Shit got outta hand."

"Okay, I'll ask around," Terence promised.

"I'm takin' her back to the house," Fred advised. "But I sure as shit can't be there with her when your mama comes home!"

"Yeah, no shit. I'll start things rolling," Terence promised, and hung up.

"So, do I ask what the Hell your old man was doing with Tabitha?" Louise asked.

"He walked in on Damian and I and Nita and Alyssa..." Terence explained. "We got her out to give him something to do."

"Dammit! I don't WANT him getting pussy all the time!" Louise ranted.

"Look, you got your plans and your reasons -- but we've got to live with BOTH of you!" Terence shot back hotly. "Besides, he's been doing Tabitha since the bathroom..."

"And I didn't approve of THAT, either!"

"But you like the bathroom, right?"

Louise glared. "All right. You find her something -- something that won't last more than a day! I don't have anything against Tabitha, but I want your old man worrying and sweating over where she's gonna stay on a daily basis until he comes to me, hat in hand, to explain, if possible. You get me? No permanent solutions! We'll take care of her on the far end -- in fact, I'll want to talk to her -- but I want your old man worrying about this shit night and day, if possible."

"You know, Mama, he's changin'. And this isn't his fault. And it isn't Tabitha's, either!"

"Well, if I get convinced he's changed, I'll lighten up -- AFTER I've taken a couple of chunks!" Louise replied. "This isn't about Tabitha -- it's about the one before -- and the one before that, and the one before THAT!"

"Yeah, yeah..." Sometimes it was tough to tell which one of them was worse...

The Hayes were committed to the Fernando project. Trish and Phyllis would have taken Tabitha in and kept her, but that wasn't what Louise wanted. Lon was out on the Fernando thing, too. Eventually, Terence got around to Teela. "Hey, I know this is fucked up, but Tabitha's old lady kicked her out..."

"Yeah?" Teela sounded interested. "What does she need?"

"Place to stay -- just tonight..."

"Hang on." Teela muted the phone. "Tabitha got kicked out of her place. Can we add her to the sleepover?"

"What -- at my place?" Sonya asked.

"Uh huh."

"Sure -- if Mom goes for it in the first place." Sonya left the room to go downstairs to where Jiang Yi was pretending to watch baseball -- pretty convincingly. "Mom, Teela wants to stay over at our house tonight. And we want to invite Tabitha."

Jiang Yi looked worried, glancing at Frank. "I..."

"Oh -- just us. We were sort of hoping you would stay here," Sonya amplified.

Jiang Yi delivered another worried glance to Frank, who allowed, "Seems pretty convenient, don't it?"

"We thought so," Sonya nodded, poker-faced.

"Huh. Well, I got no problem with it -- Teela can take care of herself. It's up to your momma."

"Fine!" Jiang Yi nodded.

"So, where you stayin' again?" Frank teased.

"Right here." Jiang Yi snuggled close. Sonya rolled her eyes and trotted upstairs.

"Well?" Teela asked.

"It's a go."

"Cool. I'll pass the word," Terence promised. Timing and other arrangements were made and they hung up.