Jeffrey was shaking the whole ride back into the city. He didn't understand why. He just remembered the tears in her eyes. He didn't understand why she got so upset exactly but then it clicked. He realized that she thought he was calling her a liar, and that he wanted her to leave. Why? Why was she so defensive? Maybe she was just used to rejection.

The whole day went by so slow. He went out to a couple of crime scenes and he was out of it the entire time. "You okay boss?" the other detectives would ask him. He shook head, and shrugged.

More paperwork. He sat at his desk, looking at the pictures of his daughters on his desk. He wondered if Leese had ever taken any pictures as a child. Probably not.

Finally as he put on his jacket to go home, his cell phone rang. He felt it vibrate in his pocket, pulled it out and answered the call.

"What's up Rita? What's the news?"

When he heard what she said he asked her to repeat it just one more time. "Okay, damn. Okay. I'll be home in a little while. I'm gonna pick up Leese."

As he got into his truck, he wondered how Leese would take the news.

At six-thirty he arrived at the base. Leese stood outside waiting for him. He couldn't read her face. As she got into the car they said hello to each other and he pulled off. It was their usual routine, and they were both quiet at first until Leese said.

"I'm in."

"What?"

"Just need to make it to graduation."

Jeffrey felt pride well up inside of him, genuine pride, "Congratulations Elise."

She was startled that he had called her that, "Thanks. I'm real happy. Sergeant Wicks' our main teacher and all that."

"Really?"

"Yeah, he's mean to us."

Jeffrey laughed, "He's just trying to see who'll crack or not."

"Some of the girls were crying."

"If they keep crying they won't make it. Were you crying?"

She sucked her teeth, "Hell nah."

They both laughed and then laughed some more when she said, "Couple dudes were crying too."

The drove on the highway for a little while when he said, "How 'bout I take you to Sully's?"

"What's that?"

"Great steakhouse. My old boys from the SEALs hang out there. It's a real military place. You're one of us now so."

Leese couldn't help but smiling. She belonged somewhere. For once. "I guess it would be cool if we went."

"Good, it's not too far from here."

"What about the girls? And Rita? I'm sure she's cooking."

"She's not, she probably just got home. They'll find something to eat."

"Oh, I just thought it would be nice if they came. I don't want them to feel left out." She said looking over at him as she fidgeted with the strap of her seat belt.

He nodded, "Let me call and ask if she'll meet us there." He got on his cell phone and Leese listened intently, and she wondered how long it would take him to mention the test they had done. Did they know by now? She didn't want to ask and seem too eager. Besides she was embarrassed at her behavior earlier. She nearly full out cried in front of him.

He got off of the phone, "We're gonna go pick them up. By the time she gets home we should be there."

More silence.

"I mean you don't have to do this—"

"Relax Harmond, I wanna do this, I really do." he looked over at her seriously.

"Okay." She said.

She fidgeted and he whistled until they finally pulled up to the house. As she was about to get out he said, "hold on."

Another talk. Not on the highway where there was space and opportunity but right now. Leese thought that this Jeffrey Greene was a strange person.

He sighed, "We got the results back. I just wanna let you know, no matter how they turned out, I still would've treated you the same way. I do care about you and I want you to do well Leese."

She heard him yammer on and on until she finally couldn't take it anymore, "Greene, can you just get to the point? Please?"

"Okay," he said, "Well. Turns out that you are my daughter."

Her heart almost stopped. What she believed in her heart was really true. Confirmed. And now he knew it too. "You're sure right?"

"We even tested your samples against Rita just in case, I mean though it's unlikely, just in case one of the kids used your hairbrush or something."

"Uh huhh."

"Bad news. She's not your mom."

They laughed. Leese had planned to get out of the car and put her things away but she saw Izzy bouncing to the car at rapid speed and the other females of the family towing behind.

"I'm gonna move to the back." Leese climbed over into the second row as the rest of the family got into the car. When Rita got in she smiled and said, "Hello Elise, how are you?"

"I'm great."

"CONGRASHULAYSHONS!" Izzy shouted. "YOU MADE IT YOU MADE IT!" Leese started laughing.

"Shhh!" Chrissy said. "God, she's so crazy."

"Congratulations Elise," Rita said.

"Yeah, you made it into the Marines or something like that?" Chrissy asked.

"Ummm.no well, something like that."

"Well that's good. Good job." Chrissy said.

"GOOD JOB!" Izzy shouted again, this time Jeffrey and Rita both shushed her. The car pulled off and Leese couldn't believe all of this was real.

Dinner was fine. Actually it was great, at least from Leese's perspective. The kids bantered and chatted, entertaining the adults at the table. Jeffrey talked about how the program might be like, Rita didn't say much but she was pleasant. No one talked about the DNA results, but Leese still got this feeling, this positive feeling that maybe it wasn't the worst news of everyone's life.

She didn't want to admit how giddy she was inside. Somehow everything felt new and she saw the world in different colors. She had no idea why. He had only told her information that she believed anyway, and it didn't mean anything to anyone right?

Before she went to bed Jeffrey pulled her aside and said, "Listen umm.about what I told you. I don't want you to think that I'm just brushing it off. Couldn't quite talk about it in front of the kids. At least not yet."

She nodded. Not yet? He was going to tell them? What did that mean?



Rita stood in the mirror brushing her long black hair when Jeffrey crept up behind her and slid his arms around her waist. She smiled in the mirror.

"Someone's happy."

"What?" He said looking at both of their reflections. "Get outta here." He rocked her to and fro resting his chin on her head.

"You ARE happy Jeffrey. That's okay. I didn't think it would be, but it actually is."

"You mean I'm happy about."

She nodded.

"Why?" he asked truly puzzled. She snickered, "I don't know because you're a sweet wonderful man with the hugest heart?" She turned around and kissed him lightly on the lips. "That's why?"

"What does this mean?"

"You call all the shots baby." She said, "I've got your back. I trust you'll do the right thing for everyone. You wouldn't hurt us.replace us." she caressed the angular planes of his face. "And I know you don't want to hurt her. And I can see why."

"Oh really?" he asked wanted her to explain.

"Well, I have to admit. She's kind of nice. She's quiet. Almost innocent. She likes the girls a lot. I think they are getting attached to her too."

He let out a huge laugh and fell away from her, almost doubling over.

"What?" She said with a bemused smile on her face, "What the hell's so funny?"

"You like her? You actually like her?"

"Don't tease me," she pushed him away and then took off her silk robe, placing it on a chair. She wore a simple red silk nighty. It was a stunning shade that went perfectly with her skin tone, Jeffrey couldn't help but to check her out.

"I'm just saying.you don't mind being the 'step mom' now?"

"Let's see what happens." She said turning back the covers on the bed. "Let's talk to her and then we'll see what happens."

The next week and a half was whirlwind for all of the adults inside of the house. Rita and Jeffrey were working on new intense cases, and Leese was mentally and physically exhausted from training. They hadn't had a chance to talk about the DNA results or anything like that. Leese didn't know if they forgot or thought it was just unnecessary. Either way, she was too involved in trying to stay afloat in the program. Along with a lot of physical tests, she had to go to their version of "college". It was a brush up program in mathematics, science, English, and some other technical courses that would be applicable to the new recruits should they graduate. Once she graduated, there was some more training depending on what job she undertook in Mil-Ar-Tel, but at least at that point she'd be getting paid, meaning that she could find housing and be out on her own supporting herself. The prospect was scary and new to her, as she'd never really been living on her own. It was either her mother, Teto or jail that she depended on for the most part of her life with rare times in between when she was homeless or staying with Nino. And now she was with Greene and his clan, wondering how long it would last until she left.

Today Jeff dropped her off like usual, but they didn't really talk about much. They were both tired. Leese got out of the car and started her day.

When she came into warm ups that day, she wasn't in the best mood because of her fatigue. She resolved to go to sleep earlier that night missing the warm soft bed in the room she slept in.

She walked into the gymnasium just as Major Franzle blew his whistle and shouted, "Partner up!"

If only she were a few minutes earlier she wouldn't have been stuck with Perróne. People who got to the gymnasium early for warm ups had already somehow milled into two-partner groups before hand. Leese usually paired up with the silent guy Jackson, or the bubbly blonde girl David. She didn't mind them even though she never tried to be very social with them, but she straight up didn't like Perróne. Perróne was a standoffish girl who was always giving her dirty looks for reasons Leese didn't understand. Perróne stood alone, lingering with that stupid mean look she always had on her face, as if she smelled something bad. Leese sighed and rolled her eyes as she grabbed a medicine ball and walked over to the dark brown skinned girl. Perróne was dark but her pigmentation was somewhat translucent, as if she'd been brushed over with a brown finish. She knew the girl was from Panama because she had overheard bits and pieces of personal information about everyone in her class. The girl's straight greasy jet black hair was pulled back into the nape of her neck while Leese's springy curls were constrained merely by a folded bandana that worked as her headband. The girls locked eyes, and without words got down on the mats. They sat opposite each other and began to pass the weighted ball between them as they did sit-ups.

Leese had began to realize that Perróne was shoving the ball to her with unnecessary force. She thought she was imagining it, but a sinking feeling told her that she wasn't. She got angry and threw the ball hard back. This got Perróne's attention:

"Hey!" Perróne snarled, "What's wrong with you?" She threw the ball back harder.

"Nothing." Leese did her crunch and threw the ball back. "Just following your lead."

"You think you're funny?" Perróne tossed the ball back, this time softer. "If I didn't need to be here I'd of sliced your ass by now."

The hairs on the back of Leese's neck stood up, she didn't take too kindly to threats but she restrained herself. Perróne was trying to get her worked up. Why the unnecessarily violent threats? Despite how put off she was, Leese responded, "Well I wouldn't need anything but my two hands to scar your face bitch."

She could see the girl's eyes glitter with rage. But then it subsided. "I'm not getting kicked out for you," she told Leese. "Not everyone's got it as good as you."

"What?"

Franzle called for them to stop what they were doing because they were about to start the suicide laps. Perróne got up and sprinted away from her but Leese followed. Perróne looked behind her and rolled her eyes when she saw Leese following closely behind her. She tried to fade her but Leese was fast enough to jog beside her.

"Harmond, Perróne, y'all go too fast you won't last!" Franzle shouted, noticing their frenzied pace.

"Get the fuck away from me," Perróne panted.

"What did you mean by 'as good as I got it'?"

She looked at the girl with a smirk, "We know your sugar daddy got you in."

"My what?"

"Big shot, 'bout to be the commissioner, Jeffrey Greene.what you do to him to make him ride for you like that?"

Leese thought she was going to be sick. People thought that Jeffrey was the only reason she got in?

"And then you ride around with that white boy Sergeant Wicks." she said. "You get around huh?"

Leese fumed, "That happened one fucking time! He gave me a ride home 'cause Jeff asked him to."

"Oh?" Perróne panted even harder now, "Jeff asked him too? So you're all buddies huh? Jeff couldn't pick you up that night? What? He too busy with his wife and kids?"

Leese cursed herself inwardly, she hardly ever referred to Jeffrey so familiarly. It was always 'Greene'.

"Listen, I'm here 'cause I deserve to be here," Leese explained as sweat ran down her face. "Everybody here got a recommendation. You must think I'm smoking if you believe that I don't know you got some type of recommendation too Perróne."

Perróne didn't say anything, perhaps it was because she couldn't. She was panting fanatically while for some reason Leese hardly felt any discomfort. She was too riled up to feel anything even though they were both running faster than they should have during the suicide laps.

"I don't care what you or anyone else thinks. I know why I'm here. I'm not explaining myself to any of you clowns."

Now it was Leese's turn to distance herself from Perróne.

At lunch Leese was beat. She tried to fight fatigue as she dragged herself to the cafeteria to eat the slop they were serving. She had stopped bringing food since everyone else did. She didn't want to stand out, not in that way. They weren't on assignment yet, they could go home to the real world whenever they wanted to but they were trying to act as if the base was all that they had. They wanted to assimilate to genuine military life even though they were in this highly unorthodox program.

She was about to get online when someone grabbed her elbow. She turned around to see Wicks in his camouflaged pants and cap, and Marine t-shirt. As she looked up at him she could see that his dark blue eyes must confuse a lot of people. They almost looked brown. Everything about him was smooth and angular, the planes of his face, his chin, his lips.

"What?" She snapped.

"Whoa," he smiled, "who pissed in your cornflakes?"

"Sorry," she said grabbing her neck, "no one. Not really."

"Uhh huhh." he said disbelievingly. "Anyway, you like shrimp?"

What a random question, Leese thought. "Yeah I guess."

"They just opened up a fish and chips spot down the road. I heard that they have the best Maryland style shrimp."

"Okay." she said, giving him a look like "who cares" and walking away.

"Come on let's go then." She heard him say. She turned around and noticed all the people milling about them, entering the cafeteria. She imagined they were staring at her, judging her.

"Look, umm, I'm just gonna stay here."

"And eat that crap?" He laughed, "You're kidding?"

She shook her head, "No thanks Sergeant Wicks, I'll pass."

"Wait," he pulled her to the side away from the entrance of the cafeteria. "What's wrong with you? You seem out of it?"

She wondered why he was so concerned. "I don't want it to seem like I'm being favored."

"Who says you are?"

"I heard that was the buzz."

He laughed, "Listen, you're not. Everybody's just keyed up 'cause they've never done anything like this before. It doesn't matter if we go out to lunch. Franzle runs this place and he couldn't care any less. Sure it's the military but." he stopped down to whisper in her ear, "you guys ain't exactly official yet."

"What?" she said a little too loudly.

"You know this is a pilot program. Until you graduate, you won't even get a real taste of the military lifestyle. This is nothing but a high school as far as I'm concerned."

She crossed her arms. "Gee, thanks."

"Look, I wouldn't do anything that looked unprofessional okay? Let's just say I won't be eating shrimp with new recruits once they get Mil-Ar-Tel officially integrated. Hell, I might not even be there with you. Better take your chance while you can."

Leese thought about this, and the brown slop they were serving in the cafeteria. Shrimp sure sounded good.

She sighed. "No, no it's cool. I'm gonna try to be like everyone else."

"Leese." he laughed.

"I hear you, but."

As they were talking Perróne walked right by them, giving them a conspicuous stare. Leese stopped mid sentence to stare at her back.

"What was that about?" Wicks asked.

Leese gave him a telling look.

"Oh," he said "Perróne giving you shit? She's kinda intense. I wouldn't worry about her though. Floretta will come around."

The anxious look on Leese's face broke a part, "That's her name?" she started laughing.

He laughed too.

"Fuck Floretta," she said, "I'm in the mood for shrimp."



Wicks was generous enough to give her a ride home after training. She had a whole new take on things after their conversation. Plus, she had a lot of fun when she was around him. She never had many friends in her life, but the ones she did have tended to be of the male persuasion, and she thought nothing of it. She had no idea that jealous or petty people might see the two in a salacious light.

When he dropped her off she stood outside of the big bright house thinking, "Am I actually home?" She knew Greene was grateful that he didn't have to make that drive all the way out to the military base and then back home. That was a huge hunk of time that the often tired detective spent just picking up Leese from training, not to mention driving her there every morning.

She rung the doorbell and Chrissy answered. Her long straight hair was held back by a neat purple headband that matched her sweater. She was a neat kid. Very type "A", Leese thought, as opposed to Izzy who was a little wild woman.

"Hi Leese," she said while munching on a carrot, "Daddy wants to see you."

Leese furrowed her brows suspiciously, "What? Where?"

"Den." The girl said matter of factly as she walked away.

Leese went into the den to find Rita and Jeffrey sitting side by side, heads together deep in conversation.

"Oh," Leese said flustered, "I don't mean to interrupt.Chrissy said."

"That's fine," Rita said. "We want to talk to you, sit."

Leese reluctantly sat in an armchair across from the couple. This reminded her too much of the time when she first met them, and it felt like two against one.

"How was training?" Jeffrey asked.

Rita interrupted, "I'm sorry honey, can we get straight to the point?"

Leese finally asked, "What's this all about anyway?"

"Well," Rita said, "Now that we know that you're Jeffrey's daughter, we need to figure out what to do next."

Leese looked back and forth between the two, "Like what?"

"We think we should maybe tell the girls, or see how you feel about, I mean," Jeffrey began to rub the back of his neck, "in general."

She sensed his nervousness, but didn't understand where he was going with this, or at least she didn't think she did.

"Well," Leese asked, "if you tell the girls then does that mean you'll tell everyone else? Aren't you afraid of all that bad publicity Rita was talking about? You know, with your career and stuff?"

"We'll handle it." Rita answered. "We're not exactly going to be having any press conferences about it," she smiled, "but when people find out we'll find a way to spin it. Jeffrey used to be a gang banger when he was a teen and he did some regrettable things but now he's turned his life around. That's what people already know anyway."

Jeffrey saw Leese flinch at the word "regrettable", "She didn't mean that the way it sounded."

Leese shrugged, "Well I know I was a mistake. Two fifteen year olds don't plan on having a kid. Usually.I mean, there are those out of control teens on Maury and."

"Well, anyway." Jeffrey interrupted, "I'm not concerned about what the truth may do to my career. I just wanna." he trailed off, his eyes sort of lowering to the floor. Leese noticed Rita place her hand on his arm.

"What do you want?" Leese asked earnestly.

He shrugged, "I don't know."

They sat there for a little while in an awkward silence until Rita said, "I think there are things you guys want to say that you're not saying."

Leese leaned forward touching her elbows to her knees, "I.I don't know what to say. I mean I knew I was his kid. I told you guys, you didn't believe me but now that you do know, what else is there to say?"

Jeffrey looked up at Leese and then sniffed leaning back. His facial expression had changed some. It was more, closed.

"I'm not trying to exploit you guys or strong arm my way into your family. I know I'm not a part of that. So, pretty much."

"Once you get on your feet with the program you're on your way?" he asked.

She shrugged and then nodded.

"Okay then," he said standing up. "Okay."

When he left the room, Rita still sat there and Leese was confused as hell.

Rita sighed and played in her hair as she crossed her legs, "Geez."

"What's wrong?" Leese asked.

"He was trying to reach out to you Leese."

She frowned, "What?"

"There are certain things he can't say."

"Well how am I supposed to know what he's saying if he doesn't say it? It's not like I know him the way you do. I just met him. Literally."

"Yeah he just met you. And he's taken into his home and invested his time and his name to make sure you make something of yourself."

"But." Leese was totally confused, why did they seem pissed of at her? "I don't what else to say to show you how much I appreciate what you're doing. I thought I was saying all the right things.he's offended?"

"You keep saying that all you want is to get through the program and nothing else."

"What else am I supposed to say?" Leese shook her head, "I'm confused.I really am."

"He wants to know if you.like him. Or like us. Or even want to be associated with us. He wants you to." Rita said staring her straight in the eyes, "he really does."

Leese was floored. When she first came here, they didn't want her anywhere near them, and now there was this. Throughout it all, her position always stayed the same. It was a good defensive system.

"I like him. I really like the girls. And, when you're not cursing me out, you're nice."

Rita smiled.

"But the only reason I say what I say is because I don't want you to think I'm trying to take advantage or that I'm desperate for a family. I had no idea any of you wanted me to like you."

"Well," Rita said, "You're absolutely right. I would say the same thing if I didn't know where I stood. And you didn't."

"All he had to do was say."

"It's hard for him to say things."

"He thinks it's easy for me?" Leese motioned to herself.

Rita laughed, "You must be his daughter." She said, "You are just like him."

Leese tried not to show how nice and irritating she thought that sounded.

Later on, Leese found Jeffrey in the backyard. He sat on the patio with a beer, his back to the house.

"Hey," Leese said.

He turned his head, "'Sup." He turned back around and stared at the large green expanse at the yard at twilight. For a few moments they were both quiet, and Leese was about to go back into the house, deflated when he said. "You want a beer? You're old enough right?"

She smiled, "Sure." She walked over and grabbed a beer from the six pack and sat down next to him. There were few stars out tonight as they stared out into the night sky.

"I'm thinking about putting a pool back here." Jeffrey said. "Hot tub too.something like that. Rita and the kids would like that."

"Sounds nice." Leese said taking a swig of beer. She was never a beer drinker but it tasted good when it was really cold.

"Or maybe I'll add on to the house. I can do it myself I think."

"I thought you had all the room you needed."

He gave her a wistful look and said, "You never really know."

After a few moments Leese said, "I'd help you with it."

"Oh yeah?" he looked at her, surprised.

"I did some construction in jail. Learned some things. Even the things I don't know I can figure out."

He looked at her, not considering her a really masculine sort of girl but not overly feminine either. She sat cross legged, Indian style on the picnic table, cradling the cold glass bottle he had offered her, looking almost like a kid sitting down in front of the TV more than a buddy having a beer, or like someone who's done construction in jail—or even someone who's been in jail. He couldn't exactly figure her out. But she was sincere, that's what he knew for sure.

"Okay. Then that means you gotta stick around until it's done. No half-assing it."

"Sure," she said, "All I have is my word.and now you have it." They locked eyes for a moment. Jeffrey couldn't resist smiling. Her hair reminded him of Izzy's wild mane.

"So you're really my kid huh?"

She didn't answer, she just took another swig of beer as he chuckled. "Twenty-three years ago, I was just a fifteen year old knucklehead. Who knew I had the power to create someone else? I wasn't even thinking that way."

"Well if you thought about it too much I wouldn't be here." She shrugged, "'Course that's not necessarily a good thing."

"It's always good to be alive Elise." When he said her name it was like a blast from the past." His tone of voice sounded like the way her own mother used to call her name when she was being serious or was angry with her.

"So who's been giving you this hard time in training?" Jeffrey asked.

"Oh man," she snickered, "Let me tell you something. She is a pain in the ass."



The next day Rita and Jeffrey delicately explained the situation to the girls. It was quite confusing for them as neither of them could even fathom that their parents had a life before they were born, and also that as a teenager, a mere child, Jeffrey created someone else. It literally blew their minds. Jeffrey and Rita also explained that what Jeffrey did had really bad consequences that caused a rough life for Leese and her mother, so this in itself was a quagmire for the girls. Their sheltered little world had been somewhat augmented, though not exactly destroyed. And the girl whom they were told was a friend of daddy's was actually daddy's "other" daughter. Their sister. In the weeks following their discovery they looked at Leese with new eyes now.

She was popular with Izzy who kept asking things about Leese's mother, however Chrissy was a little bit more shy around her now. Withdrawn even. It made Leese feel bad, but she didn't even know how to talk to the girl.

Aside from all that her training was brutal. Floretta Perróne had assembled a gaggle of girl haters to snicker and tease Leese passive aggressively every day she was in class. Whispering, dirty looks, eye rolling, hard brushes and bumps against her when one of them passed her. Leese never formally finished high school and she'd gotten her GED when she was sixteen. She had no idea about high school culture, but she bet that this was close to it.

Plus her classes were hard. She liked the English and grammar classes, but everything thing else was hard to grasp. She could feel herself slipping, and she had no idea of what to do. She didn't want to tell anyone how hard things were, but it was getting harder to hide.

"What's wrong with you?" Jeffrey asked her when he saw her bloodshot eyes one morning as she got into the car with him.

"Tired." She said under her breath.

By the time lunch came around, she was zombie like just going through the motions. Wicks appeared out of nowhere, like he usually did, in his fatigues. He nudged her shoulder as she waited outside under the overhang of the building. It was drizzling.

"Hey," she said turning around.

"Whoa." he said, "Who pissed in your Wheaties?"

"What?" She asked, getting tired of his little 'cereal & urine' analogies.

"You look upset."

"Tired is all."

"Don't get stressed out," he said opening a large black umbrella. He grabbed her elbow and led her beneath, ushering them both to his truck.

"Where to today Sergeant?" She said as she buckled her seat belt.

"You eat sushi?"

She made a face at him.

"Guess not. I guess we're off to Wings Wings Wings."

"How do you stay in shape with all the stuff you eat everyday Wicks?" Leese smirked shaking her head, "I never met a person who liked to eat as much as you."

"What about you? Look at your body? Yet you eat with me everyday."

She looked out of the window for a minute, momentarily embarrassed at what she believed was a sudo-compliment. "My body's not that great."

He looked over at her as he pulled on to the highway, "Better than a lot of people's. It's all that exercise and stuff. You can afford to eat."

"I'd be happy with a bologna sandwich if it meant not eating The Slop everyday."

"No one wants to eat The Slop." he laughed at the nickname everyone gave the daily fare at the base's cafeteria. "But seriously, if you'd be happy with a bologna sandwich why don't you just bring one everyday?"

"Well," she said, "It's not like you would let me. You're always too ashamed to go to Lil' Fat Petey's Ribhouse by yourself."

He laughed, "There is no Lil' Fat Petey's Ribhouse.is there?"

She snickered and then they both started laughing hard.

"But seriously," she said, "It's the one time in the day where I get to just hang out. No pressure."

"So you have fun when you're with me? Is that what you're saying?"

She looked at him from the corner of her eye, "I guess."

He smiled. "I knew you liked me."

"No!" She said quickly misunderstanding what he meant.

"What, you hate my guts?"

She shrugged, "Not so much." She tried to play her first knee-jerk reaction off as a joke.

"You're breaking my heart Harmond. Don't do that."

When they were eating Wicks was talking about his parents. His parents was a favorite subject of his. How proud of him they were but how annoying they were. They talked about how they expected too much yet how they were always there for him. He always had an anecdote about growing up in his small hometown in Massachusetts that always involved his parents. Most of the time she just listened until the inevitable happened. He asked her about her mother.

She stiffened up a little and he asked, "What? What's wrong?"

"Nothing."

"I just asked you about your mother, how she was like."

"I don't have the kinda stories you do Wicks. Not all peaches and cream and all."

"I know. Most people in the Second Chance program don't. I just wanted to know more about you. But if you don't want to tell me."

"It's not that it's just.weird." She sipped from her glass of water, a small hunk of ice slipping between her lips.

"I'm not going to judge you or anything like that. Come on, you know me don't you?" Wicks pointed to himself, his dark blue eyes shaded by the brim of his fatigued cap.

She crunched on the ice in her mouth and said, "Okay.my mom. She's not alive anymore. She died when I was thirteen."

"Yeah, you told me that." Wicks answered sullenly.

"As for how she was like, it's hard to tell. Most of how she was was how she was on dope." Leese shrugged, "She overdosed on heroine, see. Then, I got involved in drug trafficking. Went to jail.came here. You know all of this though," she made a rolling motion with her hands.

"Well what about your dad? Did you know him?"

"I didn't know him then," she sighed, "but I know him now."

He squinted his eyes just a little giving her a perplexed look. "Well, tell me" he said tapping his fork against the table cloth, "What kind of dude is he? Is he cool? What's his name? How'd you meet him?"

"Easy there with the semi-auto questioning" she said, "I'll tell you everything, just calm down."

That night after training Wicks dropped her off downtown where Jeffrey's office was. He was headed that way so she'd go with him and get a ride from Jeffrey to make it easier on everyone.

She waited for him outside of the police station. When he came out, he looked serious and even kind of angry behind his shades. He gave her a look and kept on walking past her. She took that as her cue to follow him. "Ohhhkay." she said under her breath.

They drove along the boulevard headed north when he said, "Why didn't you tell me that you're failing Physics."

Her eyes opened wide as she stared ahead, stunned. "Wh—what?"

"And you're not doing so hot in your Quantitative Reasoning class. Or Bio. What's the deal?"

"How'd you."

"Why didn't you tell me?"

"I.I didn't think."

"Didn't think what?" he turned to stare at her, his eyes hidden behind his dark shades.

She felt herself shrinking in her seat. The look he gave her made her wither. "What was I supposed to say?"

"That you needed help."

She cringed. She was tired of asking for help. "I didn't want to bother you. I mean, this is my thing so I was gonna deal with it."

"By what? Flunking out? Listen, this isn't just 'your thing'. I've been invested in this since day one."

She said nothing. Just tried to stifle the thoughts in her head and ignore the moistness in her eyes. Why was she about to cry? What was wrong with her?

"I know, you have been invested. But, I'll finish and I'll be out of your hair soon enough. And even if I don't finish, even if I don't get through I'll just leave you be."

He turned his head sharply, "Hell is that supposed to mean?"

She didn't answer.

"You're stubborn. Extra stubborn. Just like your grandfather."

Leese furrowed her brows, "What?"

"You heard me. Why can't you take responsibility for what you do instead of trying to threaten me with leaving every time—"

She interrupted, "Threaten?" she was confused. "I'm not threatening—"

"Well then listen to me, Elise. God damn it. I don't want you to fail. Point blank." He was so angry that the vein in his neck bulged and throbbed.

"I'll handle it," she said softly. Something in the tone of his voice made her feel hurt. She couldn't help herself. She wiped her eyes with her sleeve.

"That's what you said the first time about the letter remember? Where'd I find you? Hiding out on somebody's couch about to be back on the streets again. " He had wanted to say that she'd be back with Teto, but he stopped himself. "And you were supposedly 'handling' it then. You know, the way you 'handle' things is like a child. You act just like a child, you are no better than Christina or Isabelle.really. I mean you are twenty-three years." he looked over at her. Her face was turned all the way to the window but he could see it face in the reflection. Her eyes were wet. He could see it no matter how much she tried to hide, no matter how much she tried to control the heaving of her chest. He stopped talking for the rest of the ride home.

When Leese and Green finally arrived home, they got out of the car unceremoniously and gave a half wave to the kids as they did their homework. Rita came out of the kitchen announcing that dinner would be done in a few minutes but Leese had just run upstairs with her head down.

"What's wrong?" Chrissy asked.

Jeffrey put his hand on his hip and said, "Nothing baby, finish up." Rita gave him a questioning look, but he just stared back and said nothing before going upstairs to shower.

Dinner was ready but there was one less person at the table. Izzy asked, "Is she okay? Does her tummy hurt?" She picked up a piece of broccoli and said, "Broccoli makes my tummy hurt. Do I have to eat it too?"

"I'll bet you'll want dessert though," Rita said. "Eat it now."

Izzy popped the broccoli in her mouth and gave a sly laugh.

"Is she really okay though sweetie?" Rita whispered to her husband, her dark eyes serious and concerned.

His voice cracked a little, "Yeah.umm" he cleared his throat. "I mean, I don't know. She could be sick or something. I didn't ask."

After dinner the kids took their dessert to the living room while Rita and Jeffrey did the dishes side by side.

"Okay," Rita said softly so no one but Jeffrey would hear, "What happened?"

He told her about what happened in the car. "I fucked up. I don't know what I did exactly but I know I fucked up."

Rita chuckled, "You two are so funny. She really is yours."

"You keep on saying that but I never know why." He said in a puzzled tone.

She laughed, reaching up to kiss him on the temple. "You're just as clueless as she is."

"What?" he said as she stared at him grinning. "I don't see how you could be smiling right now. This ain't funny."

Meanwhile Leese sat up in her room with her Physics book trying hard to study, but it was just too hard. She was distracted. Frustrated she threw the book against the wall, then became startled when she heard a small knock at the door. She gasped, her hand flying to her chest right before she rolled her eyes at her stupidity and got up to open the door. Cracking it open she saw Izzy and Chrissy at the door holding a plate each filled with a chunk of chocolate cake and vanilla ice cream.

"We came to share." Chrissy said.

"Broccoli makes my tummy hurt too." Izzy said.

For a little while Leese said nothing. She didn't show them her inward smile, trying to keep her composure. "Broccoli huh?"

They nodded.

"We're not supposed to eat in our rooms." Chrissy whispered. "But they won't find out if we eat quick."

"No, I don't wanna get you guys in trouble. Besides that cake looks too good for me to take any from you."

"Things taste better when you share!" Izzy yelled.

"Shhhhh!" Chrissy gave her the most severe look, "What's wrong with you are you crazy?"

Izzy giggled, "Yeah!"

Leese couldn't help but to laugh, "Let's go downstairs then and I'll help you eat that."

Rita caught them as they were halfway down the stairs . "What were you doing upstairs with that?" She pointed to their dessert.

"Uhhh.uhhhh.uhhhh." Izzy kept stammering.

"We were going to the bathroom and we didn't want to leave our cake."

"There's a bathroom down here." Rita said, "And why wouldn't you want to leave your cake?"

"It's not their fault." Leese said placing her hands on both of the girls' heads. "They were just trying to give me their food."

Rita stared into Leese's eyes for a moment and then back at the girls. "Really?"

They nodded.

"She has a plate right here waiting for her," Jeffrey walked out of the kitchen. He and Leese locked eyes but she looked away.

"It's in the kitchen." He walked away. The girls scampered off with there melting ice cream and gooey cake and Rita said, "I'll heat it up for you, come on."

When Leese and Rita got into the kitchen Leese sat down while Rita took the plate of food and put it in the microwave. While it was nuking she leaned against the counter, folding her arms against her body and crossing her legs at the ankle.

"How do you do that?" Leese asked.

"What?" Answered Rita, shaken out of her reverie.

"Those heels. They are so high. You wear them all the time?"

She laughed looking down at her Ferragamo pumps. "I guess so. My feet have really high arches. They're actually quite comfortable.

"How tall are you?"

"Five-ten.why?"

"Wow. That's tall." Leese said. "I'm only five four. I wish I were taller."

"I used to hate being tall. When I was a kid I always got teased." The microwave beeped and Rita carefully pulled the hot plate out and gracefully walked toward her stepdaughter and put the food in front of her. "Here you go."

"Thank you Ms. Greene." Leese answered.

Rita smiled. "You make me sound so old."

"Oh," she said, "but you're not at all."

"Well, anyway. I was always the tallest person in school, until Eighth grade that is. Even then, none of the boys wanted to ask me to the dances."

"Oh yeah? None wanted to ask me either." Leese said blowing on her food. "But it was 'cause I was ugly."

Rita laughed as she sat down across from the girl but Leese was dead serious. "Anyway, in eighth grade Lisa Martinez was the only girl taller than me. She was almost six feet tall."

"You're about six feet tall in those heels right now. Maybe more." Leese noted.

"Well," she said, "When your husband is six foot five, you can get away with that sort of thing."

"Hmm." Leese said, "I thought he was about that height. I was gonna say six-six."

They were quiet as she ate.

"You know he didn't mean to hurt your feelings."

Leese looked up at Rita suspiciously.

"He just cares."

"He said I was threatening him." She stuck a forkful of chicken into her mouth.

"With what?"

"Leaving. I wasn't doing that. I was just."

"Telling him what you thought he wanted to hear?"

She nodded, "But I meant it too."

"Well, he didn't want to hear that."

"No kidding. He yelled at me and called me a little kid. I'm sick of people calling me a little kid. I'm not."

"I know," she smiled sympathetically. Looking at the girl now she could see why people would call her that. She just seemed so childlike sometimes.

"So then why's he mad at me when I say I'm going to do things by myself? He said I should take responsibility so what am I supposed to do?"

"He wants to help you. That's all. He wants you to ask for his help."

The two women stared at each other for a little while.

"I don't get it." Leese finally said as she kept chewing with a dumbstruck look on her face.



After Wicks had dropped Leese off, Reynolds called him up while he was still in the car and invited him to have a drink with the rest of the guys. He accepted since he had nothing else better to do that night.

Ever since he came to California to work on the Mil-Ar-Tel project he had been hanging out with his military comrades off base in bars, nightclubs and at sports games. He was getting a little tired of them because the only hobby they had outside of work was chasing women—though most of them had girlfriends, fiancées or wives. And when they weren't doing it they were talking about it. Honestly, this got boring for Wicks. He chalked up the difference in their priorities with the fact that was a fairly high-ranking officer with a few years on most of them and they were young grunts.

When he walked into the bar he realized it was also a strip club. Girls in varying degrees of nakedness danced on platforms in the dark space. He found his friends sitting at a table that flanked the main stage. They whooped and called his name as if he were Norm from Cheers when he sat down.

He shook and slapped hands with everyone as Reynolds said, "Well if it isn't my favorite white boy!" He called over to the waitress, "Get this dude a Corona!"

Wicks laughed and knocked fists with the dark brown skinned man and looked up at the stage. The lights onstage had suddenly changed, the runway now under lit with a blue light.

"What's going on?" Wicks asked.

"Featured dancer coming on," Mackie answered as he took a swig of his ice cold beer. "Cherries." he said lasciviously.

A few minutes later, a curvy silhouette walked in front of a screen on the stage. Wicks's friends whooped and hollered in anticipation as he wondered what was so special about this stripper. The screen raised and revealed a thick and curvy bleached blonde with that messy "porn star" hair—tousled and tangled looking. She stood in a pose that caused her to arch her back and poke out her perky round breasts. Along with tight glaringly white shorts she wore a matching top deliberately cut to show off the red lacy bra underneath.

Her face had a coy look as she bit down on her bottom lip and sauntered forward in the clear stiletto heels. The audience cheered as she took the pole positioned right above Wicks and his party. She smiled seductively, a red glossy shade coving her lips as she began to wrap her curvy legs around the metal. Soon she began spinning around and around with her head thrown back and her chest toward the ceiling. Her eyes were closed and her face displayed an expression of either pain or ecstasy.

Wicks was somewhat impressed with her show as she did all types of acrobatic tricks on the pole. He liked her form. She was small and compact but still thin with curves that most of the other strippers didn't have. She spun around making eye contact with him, keeping her eyes on him for the entire show. His friends (and many guys at the other tables near) noticed this, cheering and slapping him on the back with envious looks in their eyes.

Before her set was over, she had stripped down to her bare breasts and a red Brazilian cut thong that matched the bra she discarded long ago.

"Cherries is HAWT!" screamed Mackie as she left the stage.

"She's alright," Wicks said casually as he sipped his beer, but acknowledging to himself that there was something about her he found sexy. She seemed different than the other strippers here.

Later, he and the boys had more drinks and were tipping more strippers when Cherries sauntered over to their table, mischief in her warm brown eyes. The entire table came to a hush as she tapped Wicks on the shoulder and whispered something into his ear. His friends watched him grin sheepishly as he looked around at his friends suspiciously.

"You guys."

"We had to do it!" Reynolds yelled, "you never relax Wicks! NEVER!"

The guys laughed as Cherries, clad this time in a pink and black balconette bra and black lace boy shorts straddled his lap and began moving seductively on top of him. They were always teasing him about not actively chasing pussy the way they did. They called him a "Goody-Two Shoes", mistaking his lack of motivation to have sex with multitudes of women as unnecessary faithfulness to his globe trotting, never around fiancée. The truth was he had just felt out of his element as of late. He felt disconnected from many people right now, no matter how many of them patted him on the back or brought him lap dances. The only time he felt excited and refreshed to speak to someone any time he were near her was Leese and sex with strange women wasn't going to change that. And even now, as this delectable blonde writhed on top of him, pulling out all of the stops, touching him all over to the envy of other patrons, he thought about Leese.

Cherries sold one of the most expensive dances in the whole place, but the boys spared no expense. Half of them were just ass kissing because Wicks was everyone's superior, but overall they just liked him. He never had a dominating presence but when he did speak he was kind, charismatic and witty.

When she finished, Wicks had slipped a fifty-dollar bill into her panties but she pulled it out and gave it back, "No, it was my pleasure," she said in a sultry voice. She then whispered something into his ear and walked away.

"Alright," Wicks said nodding and holding up his hands, "You guys, that's enough."

"What?" they asked in unison.

"You didn't have to buy me backroom time."

They looked around at each other with confused looks on their faces.

Reynolds grinned as he yelled, "We don't love you that much man!"

"What the fuck?" Wicks asked, perplexed. He shook his head, "I ain't going back there."

They all stopped what they were doing and saying to stare at him with dumbfounded (and even angry) looks on their faces.

"What?" he asked. "I didn't ask for it so who did?"

Moments later, after much emphatic urging by his buddies, Wicks found himself looking for "The Red Room" in the back of the club. After having been patted down and questioned by a huge bouncer he was given the green light.

He finally found the correct room and saw that Cherries waited for him on a round red leather sofa, her legs curled beneath her. The entire room looked to be upholstered in red leather, even the walls.

"Have a seat?" She smiled. He sat across from her cautiously.

"Are you scared? I won't bite."

"Who paid for this?" he wanted to know.

"I did." She stood up and walked over to him, running her fingers through his short brown hair and massaging his scalp. "I've been trying to get your attention all night. I really think I like you."

He gently pulled her hand away. "I don't know what you do back here but I can't have any sort of." he stared at her intently as he tried to choose his words carefully as not to offend her. He didn't want to have sex with a stripper no matter how hot she was or how much she wanted him. "I'm engaged," he said, deciding this was the best way to go.

"Aww!" she said looking down at him sweetly, "You are a good guy! I knew I liked you for some reason."

He looked at the girl with a slight smile; she had to be no more than eighteen or nineteen. "I think you should get your money back for the room." he said.

"No." she said, "we can still use it."

He looked at her quizzically.

"You took a lap dance from me so you must not think that's cheating." she said stepping back and undoing her bra so that her very natural and pert breasts sprang free, the nipples already distended. "This time I won't even touch you, and it will still be my pleasure."

Wicks gulped upon hearing the desire drip from her voice. He almost wanted to take back what he said about not having any kind of sex with her as he felt himself getting hard.

She walked over to a big leather bag and pulled out a turquoise clear silicone dildo. She licked the thick tip of its jellied head, and then slid it deep into her mouth as she rolled her hard nipples between her fingers. Next, walked back over to where he sat. She gave one of his shoulders a little push, prompting him to sit back on the couch, "Relax. Enjoy yourself Good Guy."

He did as he was told, never taking his eyes off of her as she sat on a smaller red leather chair across from him, spreading her legs and sucking on the dildo as she played with her hard pink nipples, the areolas barely there. She looked down at his baggy shorts and smiled. She could see the outline of his hard bulge in them, his dick clinging to his left thigh. She must have been turned on by this because she began moaning as she pinched her nipples, pushing the dildo deeper and deeper until her mouth until very little much but the base could be seen.

"Whoa." Wicks said, no longer able to hide how impressed he was. He was really starting to regret not letting her touch him after seeing this. She continued to suck on the dildo, spreading her thighs a part until he could see the thin sliver of her panties snag between her glistening pussy lips. She pulled the material to the side and began to rub her hard clit, and soon she was moaning and groaning, lifting her hips to meet her fingers. She stared into his eyes intently and he knew that she wanted him badly, and that just the thought of him being there made her want to do these things to herself. Knowing this turned him on so much.

Slowly, she pulled the dildo out of her throat and from her lips, her red lipstick smearing purplish all over the turquoise jellied object. Threads of saliva snapped away from between the dildo and her mouth as she held it up for him to see. It was so wet, glistening with her spit; she had gotten it so deep. He could only imagine what she'd do to him if she had the chance.

She stood up and slipped her panties off revealing a smooth shaved cunt worthy of licking. He admired her body and how toned and smooth she was. She was thicker than his very slender fiancée who he teased often calling "string bean" just to get on her nerves. Her ass was cuppable and breasts full and delicious looking, the shape almost like apples. Inadvertently he licked his lips and she smiled, winking at him as she placed the tip of the dildo flush with her core.

She slid it in slowly, inch by inch, hissing and grunting. "Ooooh." she said huskily, "Look at what you did." she said, "made me all wet and horny.I wish it were you inside of me. Sure you don't want to change your mind?" He didn't answer as she began to pump her wet tightness with it. Wicks watched it slide all the way in, and then all the way out. He could see her juices running down the dildo. She was so wet. "What's your name?"

"Oliver," he said, almost wishing he had given her an alias.

"What do you do?" she asked.

"I'm a Marine."

She hissed upon hearing this, "I love Marines!"

She fucked herself slowly at first, but then picked up the pace. He felt his cock twitch against the fabric of his shorts, wanting so bad to be touched by a tongue, hand or pussy.

Cherries' breathing quickened, and her eyes fluttered open and close as if she wanted to keep watching him but could not control this basic reaction to her own lust. She began moaning louder and louder, biting her bottom lip and pulling at her hair. She was pounding the dildo inside of her and at the point of screaming when she said, "please, touch yourself for me!"

He didn't answer or make any movements.

"I'm begging you.please." she squealed.

"Fuck it," he muttered, reaching into shorts and pulling out his very hard dick. He gripped it tightly and began pumping his veiny shaft as she shook and shuddered on the couch, juices running down her inner thighs, lips swollen and clit distended. He was so horny he had to stop himself from perching between her legs and licking her dry.

He felt his balls tighten as she called his name, "Oliver! Shit, jerk that dick for me Oliver!"

His hand went faster and faster, his face fraught with determination and flushing ruddy as she fucked herself too.

Soon she began squealing uncontrollably, "Oh God, here it comes!" He couldn't believe what he was seeing: juices began squirting out of her pussy as she pounded the dildo deep inside of her. Her eyes rolled to the back of her head, and her body went stiff as wave after wave of unrelenting pleasure wracked her body.

Soon, he couldn't hold back either. Jerking his cock faster and faster, he exploded all over his hand, grunting and cursing as his balls emptied.

When he was done, so was she. She walked over to him and took his hand, kissing it, licking all of the white sticky cum off of his knuckles. "I hope this isn't cheating?" she asked coyly.

Walking out of the room, he felt light on his feet and the air had a dizzying surreal quality to it that he couldn't understand. The neon and strobe lighting, pounding bass of the music and naked women around him made him feel even more disoriented.

He sat back down with the guys unceremoniously, trying to avoid their gazes.

"Hey," Reynolds said, "he's back!"

The guys cheered him and begged for details but he avoided giving any. All he said was, "She's really good. Really good."

"Shit!" Mackie said, "I'm about to max out my credit card then!"

They all laughed but something didn't sit right with Wicks. He felt empty and disconnected from everything. Hollow. He looked around at all of the guys and decided he would leave. His friends reluctantly let him go and he made his way out of the door and to his car in the parking lot. As he was getting in he heard a voice call, "Wait!"

He stopped. It was none other than Cherries herself. She was dressed in the same white pair of shorts she wore earlier with a men's leather bomber jacket covering up her top half. He sighed, this girl really wasn't giving up.

"Listen," she said panting some, "I just want you to know that I really like you. And I know you're engaged but maybe we can get together and you know.hang."

Wicks shook his head and smiled. He knew that old line. He had used it long ago on girls who had boyfriends. All that meant was, if I can't have sex with you now, I'll get around to fucking you sooner or later, so we might as well get the ball rolling. She handed him her number on a card.

"Just think about calling me." she said, "you seem really nice. At first I thought maybe you didn't like girls but I could see." she said quickly glancing down at his crotch, "that you were very turned on earlier."

"I know that you could definitely tell," he laughed.

"But anyway," she said looking down shyly, "most of the scumbags I meet don't care who they have waiting at home. Whoever your girl is, she's real lucky."

He looked at the card. It had the address and name of the strip joint printed on the front, but "Samantha" scrawled curlicue style in blue ink on the back. He put the card in his pocket. "I'll think about it."

"Thanks!" she beamed. "Say, this is gonna be weird but.can I have a hug?"

He hesitated a little but then allowed himself to hug the sweet small girl who held him tightly as if she never wanted to let go.

"Okay," he said, "see you around."

He got into his car and drove off, leaving her standing there. He knew that look in her eyes. It was a desperation, a longing to know someone, to feel something real.

He knew it because he recognized the same look in his own eyes. But he knew that no matter what, he could never fill a void like the one she was looking to fill. There were people who were missing something from their life, and they desperately thought that they could find everything that they ever needed in one person. He couldn't be that one person right now, not for anyone.



The next day was Saturday. Leese sat down in the backyard at the picnic table trying to do her homework though it was hard. The girls were playing yards and yards away with some of their friends, but the noise wasn't distracting, it was kind of soothing.

"Having fun?" a deep voice asked. She looked up and saw Oliver Wicks, in civilian clothes. He was wearing a charcoal grey hooded sweatshirt and a pair of long cargo shorts with sneakers. His closely cropped hair was freshly cut, and a dull brown. She stood up and asked, "What the hell Wicks?" She felt self-conscious in her tank top, shorts and flip-flops. She'd showered but had yet to dress. Her hair was still wet and piled up on top of her head in a curly poof. She thought she was alone with the kids. Jeffrey and Rita went on a day trip to L.A. It meant a lot to her that they trusted her to baby-sit.

"The door was open."

"What were you doing coming through it?"

He made a feline like sound and formed his hand like a claw, scratching the air.

She rolled her eyes smiling, "Sorry but I wasn't expecting you."

"Oh, Greene didn't tell you?" he asked sitting down at the picnic table.

She looked at him suspiciously, "Tell me what?"

"I'm tutoring you now. So how about you sit down and let's get started?"

After a few minutes she relaxed and accepted the fact that Jeffrey had sent Oliver over to help her study. She excused herself and then went upstairs to put on a pair of sweats and a t-shirt. When she came back outside he had one of her textbooks open on the picnic table. He looked up at her baggy clothes and snickered.

"What?"

"Nothing." He said smiling as she sat down. "I didn't know you were so modest."

"It's cold out here."

"It's eighty-five degrees."

Leese spied Izzy yards away smiling and laughing, but when the little girl looked over at the house, the smile was replaced with a curious look. She saw Izzy walk over and tug at Chrissy's sleeve pointing and asking her something. Chrissy didn't look curious, just sort of suspicious.

Meanwhile Oliver was talking about something, but she wasn't really listening, just answering "Uh huh." as she watched the girls stomp over wondering why they looked so determined.

"Are you listening to me?" He asked.

The girls walked up to them. For once Izzy looked shy while Chrissy stood authoritative with her arms crossed. "Who's this?" Chrissy wanted to know.

"This is Command Sergeant Oliver Wicks, he's one of my bosses down at the base."

"What's he doing here?" Izzy asked.

"Your dad asked him to help me study for my classes."

They both studied at him for awhile.

"Hello ladies." Oliver said. "You must be Izzy." He reached out his hand to shake her tiny one.

"How'd you know?" Izzy asked, more amazed than she should've been.

"Because you're littler than Chrissy." He then took the older girl's hand who smirked a little as he shook her hand and said, "Pleased to meet you."

"Ditto." Chrissy said. She seemed satisfied with the whole explanation. Meanwhile Izzy had already torn away running through the sprinklers like a mad woman.

"Can you keep an eye out." Leese asked.

"I always do." Chrissy sighed and then wandered off.

Oliver flashed one of his sparkling smiles, "You get along with them okay?"

"So far, so good." Leese said. "Okay, now I'm ready to listen to you."

As embarrassing and surprising as his presence was Leese enjoyed Oliver's company. He broke things down in a way that made perfect sense to her. It was almost ridiculous that her so-called teachers couldn't even do the same thing—or, rather that she couldn't understand the way they taught when things were apparently easier than she thought.

Oliver was patient and nice, so nice that it almost embarrassed her.

"You want something to eat or drink?" Leese offered after about an hour and a half of intense study.

"Well I am hungry kinda."

"I'll make you a sandwich," Leese said standing up. "I'll be right back."

It took her awhile because she had made the sandwiches the way she'd seen Rita make them for Jeffrey. She took some Italian bread and put turkey, ham, provolone, American cheese, lettuce, tomato, peppers, mustard, mayonnaise and an oil and vinegar dressing. She paired that with some chips and made a couple of smaller sandwiches for the kids. She brought them out on a tray with a big pitcher of pink lemonade.

"Wow, now you're talking," Oliver's deep voice boomed when she brought out the food. "I thought you got lost in there."

She set down the food and went to get the kids.

In a few minutes they were all happily munching away at their sandwiches, the girls bantering between bites.

"Finished!" Izzy yelled, "Umm ummm yummy good!"

Leese smiled and shook her head, "You guys go on and wash your hands okay?"

"Then can we go to Jenny's house?" Izzy asked.

Leese looked at Chrissy for some guidance.

"Jenny's dog is having a birthday party. Mom said we could go yesterday. It's only right down the block." Chrissy explained.

"A dog party?" Oliver asked.

"Go wash your hands and faces and I'll walk you down there." She made an apologetic facial expression at Oliver who just nodded and waved her off. After she came back to the house she noticed that everything was cleaned up out back but Oliver wasn't out there. She went into the living room where she saw him sitting on the couch.

"Hey," she said as he watched a football game.

"Hey," he answered back, his eyes totally transfixed on the screen, "Sorry I just realized that this was on."

"No, don't even worry about it," she said "I'll do the rest of my homework."

"Alone?"

"I think I can handle the rest."

"Call me if you need any help."

Before she went back outside she placed a cold tall beer on the coffee table in front of him. She didn't think he noticed but saw him pick it up as she left.

While out back she tried her hardest to work on some math problems but things were getting hairy fast. Her pride and guilt didn't want her to ask for his help knowing that his Saturday afternoon was already basically shot helping her with her work. After about ten minutes, she gave up.

"Oliver!" she yelled.

Moments later he was walking through the patio door, "You okay?"

She shook her head no.

He snickered and walked around behind her leaning over her. She felt the softness of his sweat shirt and smelled the musky scent of his cologne. His arms were practically wrapped around her as he was showing her where she went wrong with the problem.

"So that's the coefficient, so just plug this here in." he scribbled something and she could feel him move so subtlety against her. He was so warm and smelled so good that she had tried to concentrate but she couldn't.

"What's wrong with me?" She thought to herself feeling this warm rush flow through her body as he hovered over here.

"There." He said, "You got it?"

She tried it. He still hovered over her to her surprise. She scribbled out the problem and finished it. "Right?"

"Yeah," he said. She could hear a smile on his face. "Very good."

He lingered a little longer and she just sat stock still until he said, "Your hair smells good." He finally pulled away, "what is it? I mean what do you use?"

She shrugged, "Conditioner?"

"I'm talking about the scent genius."

"No really, I don't know its like 'mountain' something or whatever."

"Smells really clean."

"Gee, thanks."

He laughed.

"I'm finished." She said, closing her books.

"Good, wanna watch the game with me?"

"Let's go." She grabbed her books and followed him into the house.

They sat on the couch and watched TV. Leese made sure that she sat far away from him on the other end of the couch. He went through the plays and the rules since Leese didn't know much about football, but she wasn't really listening. Her mind was somewhere else.

Jenny's mother brought the girls home a half-hour later and they ran around in the house playing while Oliver and Leese watched football.

Soon, Leese heard the door creaking open in the foyer. Her heart jumped, and then she realized that she wasn't the one who invited Oliver over, it was Jeffrey. When he and Rita walked into the living room with shopping bags there were greetings and handshakes and how do you do's.

"So how did the studying go?" Jeffrey asked as Rita took their bags upstairs.

"Great," Oliver said, his hands in his pockets, "She catches on quick."

Jeffrey nodded looking at Leese, "I'm glad."

He walked into the kitchen and left the two alone standing there in the living room.

"Well," he said "I guess I'll be going. Grab some food. I'll probably come over next Saturday and help you out."

"Oh," she said, "Well, why don't we go out.for dinner." She gulped surprised at her own boldness. "I mean, my treat. After all you've done for me and stuff."

"Well," he said, "Sure. I guess that'd be cool."

"Just give me a few minutes to get ready."

"You're fine like that." He said his eyes traveling quickly up and down her body.

She nearly brushed as she said, "I'll be right back."

She went into the kitchen where Jeffrey was. Turns out that he was cooking something, cutting vegetables while something simmered in the pot.

He looked behind him, "Leese, you've never had any of my chili before have you?"

She shook her head sheepishly.

"It's the best. Wicks's never head it either.he's staying for dinner right?"

"Ummm about that." Leese began.

"Listen," Jeffrey said, "you know last night in the car?"

She lost her train of thought when he said this, "Yeah?"

"I didn't mean to hurt your feelings." Steam billowed around his almond brown face as he said this and boiling water gurgled in the background.

She looked down.

"I just want you to.if you need help. Just come to me. That's all."

"Well," she said, "I sort of need some money." She shuffled her feet around looking away like a child. It was too late to take the question back even though she was so embarrassed.

He furrowed his brows, "Really?"

"I told Wicks I'd take him out for dinner. I guess I should've thought about the fact that I'm pretty much broke."

He reached into his pocket and pulled out three twenties, pressing it into her hand.

"Thanks," she said, "I'll pay you back."

"For what?" he shrugged, "Go out, have some fun. Need the truck?"

She was almost speechless as she stuttered, "No license. I mean I can drive but.Wicks's got his car."

"We gotta take care of that." he said now cutting green onions. "You need a license. Next weekend, I'll take you."

"That sounds good." She said, "Thanks."

A few minutes later she came downstairs in a pair of sand colored Capri cargos, an army fatigue t-shirt and a pair of white sneakers. She had let her hair out of the poof that was on her hair so that the frizzy ringlets were round, high and framing her face. Her hair had grown some and the ends were resting on her shoulders instead of merely skimming them. She had on a little sheer pink lip gloss and little rectangular metal earrings that glittered in the light.

"You look nice." Oliver said when he saw her.

She shrugged, trying to hide the fact that she liked his compliment.

When they got into his car Oliver said, "You know today you did something strange."

She looked alarmed as she asked, "What?"

"You called me 'Oliver' instead of 'Wicks'."

"I did? Damn." she suddenly remembered when she did it, calling him to help her with her homework. "Sorry."

"No, I mean it's cool. I liked it."

A smile played on the corner of her lips as she tried to ignore the stupid butterflies she got in her stomach. What was her problem?

"So you want me to call you Oliver now?"

"It doesn't matter really I guess. It's up to you. But on the base you know, I guess it wouldn't be a good idea if you called me Oliver."

"Of course not." She interjected rapidly. "I wouldn't dare."

"I mean I like it though, so don't feel like."

"No I get it."

"It's like.would you let me call you Elise?"

She thought about this, and the way her name sounded in his mouth. She sighed inwardly, unintentionally making her sigh sound like a moan when she said, "Sure, I guess."

That got his attention. His head jerked toward hers as he stared. She did her best to look away and try to change the subject. "So, where do you wanna eat?"

"I'm in the mood for something cheap, tacky, and bad. Chinese buffet?"