Title: Kisswink!
Author: Jane Lebak (tabris@empire.net)
URL: http://www.empire.net/~tabris02/
Summary: New to the Anderson household, 12-year-old Princess 
dares the boys to a dangerous game.

(12/99, 2/00)

******************

As the five kids ate their breakfast, Chief Anderson looked around 
the table and spoke without preamble. "You're going to be on your 
own after school today. I've got a meeting all afternoon at the UN 
Building, and we most likely won't finish up until eight or nine 
tonight."

Slowly reaching for her orange juice, Princess glanced around the 
table. None of the older boys thought it odd enough to stop 
shoveling cereal into their mouths. Keyop gave her a confused 
glance, and she flashed the five -year-old a smile that reassured 
him enough to keep eating. She went more slowly, though. For the 
whole month she'd lived here, Chief Anderson been home every 
day when they returned from school, even if working in his office. 
More than could be said (thank goodness) for Jason.

Mark said, "You can't even get home for dinner?"

The Chief nodded. "You can make something simple or order a 
pizza."

Princess flinched at the thought of a pizza, but Jason flashed a 
smile toward Tiny and said, "Like that's a choice?"

Princess noticed Mark looking at her. He'd probably caught her 
hesitation. "What would you prefer?"

Jason swallowed hastily. "What? Why does *she* get to decide? 
She's not a real princess, you know!"

Keyop giggled. "Aw, come on! I want a pizza!" He started to fidget 
in his seat and dropped his spoon into his cereal, splashing Jason. 
The older boy recoiled and gave him a furious stare, and Keyop 
stammered an apology. Princess half-rose from her seat, and 
Jason met the protective gesture with a look of unconcern--more 
than that, a look as if he didn't think her worth consideration.

Truthfully, she didn't think she could entirely protect herself in an 
all-out fight with him, but he only acted rude and never laid a hand 
on her. If he'd ever hurt Keyop, she'd have killed him, but he didn't 
touch the boy either. Instead the nastiness emerged in smart 
remarks, hateful glances, and a seeming all-out rebellion against 
Chief Anderson. From the times he didn't show up after school 
until nine at night, to the refusals to participate in family activities, 
to the obstinacy about everything the Chief asked him to do--
Princess would be hard-pressed to name anyone who had so 
pointedly tried to make life difficult for no reason. That wasn't even 
mentioning what had gone on last week. Chief Anderson had kept 
his temper far longer than he should have. Let someone start 
walking all over you like that and it never stops. That was the way 
the world worked.

This wasn't what she'd always wished a family could be. The girls 
at Covenant House said families were all poison, but the grown-
ups there had said family could be something better, something 
bigger. They said everyone could work together to be part of a 
whole. So when the Chief had said he'd adopt both her and 
Keyop, and that he had three boys already, her head had filled 
with dreams. Dreams Jason one at a time set about crushing with 
his iron-hard attitude. It was probably for the best if it kept her from 
being starry-eyed. For all she knew, Anderson would get tired of 
having her around too and discard her like last week's pizza 
boxes. Or Jason would get him to do it.

Today seemed like a normal enough school-week morning for the 
Anderson household. The three boys had rearranged their waking 
schedules easily after Princess and Keyop's arrival, and all were 
ready to go after finishing breakfast; five bookbags stood lined up 
in the hallway. They didn't need jackets yet because of the warm 
weather. In fact, Jason was the only one wearing long sleeves.

Jason still stared at her in a way that prickled her skin. Princess 
matched the challenge in his eyes. He was still furious over the 
whole dinner thing. She said lowly, "I'm not telling you not to eat 
your precious pizza."

Mark said, "I just thought...you know, maybe you'd had enough 
fast food...that you'd like a real meal."

Jason ignored her and turned back to Mark. "She's not starving 
anymore, idiot."

The Chief said, "It's good to think of others, Jason," and Princess 
wished momentarily he'd smack the boy for the mock gag he 
telegraphed Tiny. Instead Anderson turned toward the oldest. 
"Mark, you'll be in charge tonight. No smart remarks, Jason. 
You're still grounded."

Sudden goosebumps rose on Princess's arms. For once, Jason 
kept his mouth shut and his eyes downcast.

"You'll have a number where you can reach me in an emergency, 
and I'll phone if possible to make sure everything's all right." The 
Chief looked at all five kids. "Not that I suspect anything would go 
wrong."

Apparently he was making sure nothing would go wrong: right 
after breakfast, he guided Jason aside and spoke to him privately 
before sending him off with the others.

Just at the elevators, Princess turned and went back to Chief 
Anderson. "You'll help with my homework when you get back, 
right?"

He smiled at her. "Of course. I want you to try it on your own first, 
and then we can go over any parts you're still having problems 
with." He studied her eyes for a moment before saying, "It'll be all 
right, Princess. These meetings happen a few times a year. It 
won't be a regular occurrence."

She said, "I'm not worried about anything." Since when had she 
ever needed a grown-up to stand between her and the world?

Keyop was holding the elevator door and hollering, "Princess! 
Come on!" so she spun and dashed for it.

As the kids walked to school, Princess tried to imagine an 
afternoon without Chief Anderson in the apartment. Trying her 
homework on her own would be a useless gesture--unless Mark 
helped. On the other hand, sometimes the Chief had the kids all 
do something together instead of homework, little exercises or 
games in the gym or private lessons in the study. They wouldn't 
have a group activity either, but Princess didn't imagine the boys 
would just split off into their own rooms. Jason was grounded after 
that incident last week, so he'd have to be home--and Mark was 
smart enough not to leave him unsupervised with her. Tiny never 
went anywhere except soccer practice, and that wasn't this 
afternoon. They'd all be home. She brightened. "So what are we 
going to do this afternoon? Maybe we can play a game?"

Jason raised his eyes to heaven. "No thanks. I don't feel like either 
dolls or Candyland."

Princess bristled. What the hell was his problem? Just because 
she was the only girl didn't mean-- "I wasn't thinking of anything 
like that!" She swallowed. "I meant something more... Something 
like..."
They stopped at a corner waiting for the light. Jason looked at her 
directly. "Yeah? You had an idea?"

"Idea" sounded so sneering that Princess didn't realize how hot 
her cheeks had gotten as she snapped, "Kisswink!"

Mark and Tiny looked at her too. "Kisswink?"

"Yeah!" She folded her arms and resettled the still-new backpack 
on her shoulders. "It's kind of, um, a combination of spin-the-
bottle, wrestling, and tackle football. And you have to do it on a 
padded floor."

Jason studied her. "Yeah. Like I believe you ever played that."

Why did he always seem to stare three inches beneath her skin? 
"We did! We used to at Covenant House when we were supposed 
to be sleeping."

"You mean the nights you weren't escaping." They crossed the 
street. Jason added, "We'd need more people for Kisswink."

"Why?"

"One girl, four guys... So we can't."

Her inner antennae pricked at his tone. "You scared you'll lose?"

Jason drew himself up. "I can collect a few extra players."

Mark spoke slowly. "I don't think that's the best idea, Jason."

"It'll be fun. He said he won't be home until eight." Jason looked at 
Mark over his shoulder. "Well? Or are you going to tattle and get 
me in trouble again?"

"*I* didn't tell him last week."

Princess felt her insides twist as the defiance in Mark's eyes faded 
to reluctance. He didn't say anything more.

"Uh-huh." Jason looked at Tiny. "Get a few people together after 
school. We'll meet back here," (they had just arrived at the third 
and fourth grade entrances of the grammar school) "and go home 
together. See ya!" He bolted for the older kids' entrance before 
anyone could protest.

 

Lining up to enter the building with the rest of the fifth graders, 
Jason ambushed Chris. "So listen," he whispered. "You know that 
new girl we adopted?"

"She still a total pain?"

"Making the whole world revolve around herself. Wants to play 
something called Kisswink this afternoon. The Chief won't be 
home. We need to get some people together."

Chris shook his head. "Nah-uh, man. Not after last week. You're 
not getting me in trouble again."

"Who got who in trouble?"

"The Chief called my Dad." Chris flinched. "Although I didn't get it 
half as bad as you."

Jason shrugged. "We won't get caught. He's not even going to be 
there."

Chris said, "So who do we need?"

Jason said, "Girls. There's already too many guys."

"We could get the Lipchik twins. And Rosalie."

Jason and Chris debated their short tally of teammates. Rob came 
up behind the pair and asked what was going on, and shortly he 
got invited as well. The Lipchiks refused to come if they couldn't 
bring their friend Felicia, and Rosalie agreed after Jason assured 
her his father was fine with it. Right after school, Jason and Chris 
gathered their mob and met Mark at the front gate.

Mark blinked. "No. This is too many people."

Jason looked very, very innocent. "It would mean so much to 
Princess. She really wanted to play this game, and she said we'd 
need more people."

A brief darkness clouded Mark's eyes. "You badgered her into it. 
You keep acting like you don't want her around..."

"She suggested it, remember? She says she played it all the 
time." Jason rolled his eyes. "Can we get going? They're going to 
be waiting for us at the gate, and the Chief said we shouldn't be 
selfish."

Mark followed the crowd uneasily. They picked up Tiny, Princess 
and Keyop. The next problem didn't occur to them until they 
reached the front entrance of the ISO building. "If we walk in with 
so many people," Mark said, "security is going to notice. They'll 
mention it to the Chief."

"We take them in one or two at a time," Jason said.

Mark said, "It's not going to work."

"You wouldn't risk it for Princess?" Jason looked right at her as he 
added, "You can't back down now. Not in front of everyone."

She suspected all the things he'd said about her behind her back. 
This crowd consisted of his friends, and what if they already 
believed him? With both their honor on the line, which would be 
the first to blink? Tossing her head, Princess said, "We'll get 
everyone inside somehow. Mark and I will think of a way, even if 
you're no good at it."

They sat on a bench until they spotted someone else they knew. 
Tiny ran to flag Deputy Security Chief Margaret Kimmel's 
daughters when they returned from their private school. The Chief 
and Margaret were good enough friends that the two families 
tended to do things together on weekends, so it seemed natural to 
get into trouble with them. The Kimmel girls agreed to bring some 
of the guests inside if they could join the game.

Princess was looking defiant and preoccupied simultaneously. 
Jason and Chris kept exchanging grins. Shortly everyone was 
inside the building, the Kimmel girls had changed out of their 
uniforms, and eleven grade-schoolers proceeded to raid the 19th 
floor refrigerator. Next they congregated in the gym.

Chris nudged the floor with his sneaker. "You can hardly see the 
burn marks."

Jason shook his head. "After how hard he made me scrub?"

Rosalie said, "Burn marks?"

Chris said, "We got hold of some fireworks last week."

Rob added, "But wherever we went, there were cops. So we came 
here because of the gym."

The first twin said, "Are you out of your minds? That's nuts."

Chris snickered. "The best was the M-80. I thought it'd blow out 
the windows. That's like a quarter stick of dynamite, right?"

Jason said, "And loud enough to wake the dead, you idiot. Why do 
you think we got caught?"

The other twin said, "Your dad only made you scrub the floor? 
Mine would have killed me."

"I thought he just about did," Sherry Kimmel said. "He came and 
got my mom during dinner. He thought he'd broken your arm."

Jason snorted. "She came down here trying to scare the hell out 
of me, threatening to lock me up or whatever. Your mom's okay 
when we all go to the movies, but she's no good at the Gestapo 
routine. It wasn't that bad."

Chris drawled, "Ooh, you slick. Roll up your sleeves and say that 
again." When Jason shoved him, Chris darted around the other 
side and grasped his arm. Jason gave an involuntary yelp as 
Chris grabbed, then twisted away as Chris yanked up one sleeve. 
He was too late to stop them from seeing the bruise, faded to 
yellow.

Princess went cold. She hadn't known about the damage because 
of the long sleeves Jason had worn all week. She had only heard 
the shouting: Mark had peered through the double-doors into the 
gym, then shoved Princess around the corner without letting her 
see. Distance couldn't stop her hearing, though.

Jason yanked down his sleeve again. "I'm talking to a dead man, 
Chris."

"Yeah, whatever." Chris laughed out loud. "So let's start the 
game."

Jason said, "We can't yet. Princess said we need mattresses."

Mark's eyes bugged. "Mattresses?"

"Of course! The padding on the floor isn't thick enough." Half the 
gym had a padded floor. Jason stomped on it with one foot. "We 
could get hurt on this. You don't want someone to get hurt, do 
you?"

Shortly they were dragging all the mattresses out of the kids' 
bedrooms, including the spare bedroom, and the two air 
mattresses. The Lipchik twins hauled the couch cushions in too, 
and Tiny dug out every sleeping bag in the apartment. Mark 
absolutely refused to let them take apart the Chief's bed.
Jason said, "I think now we're about set." He looked squarely at 
Princess. "Let's get started."

She looked flustered. "We..."

"We need a bottle!" Chris shouted, and Princess dispatched 
Keyop. Jason gave Chris a knowing look, and Chris said to 
Princess, "So tell us the rules."

She tossed her head and folded her arms. "We start like Spin-the-
bottle. You know how to play that, don't you?"

Keyop returned with an empty bottle from the recycling bin. 
Everyone stood in a circle, and Keyop spun the bottle. Being five, 
he was really too young to do anything else. The first round went 
to Rob, who kissed Princess on the cheek. Jason said, "That was 
the kiss. Now it's the wink."

Princess was looking blank, and she said nothing. Jason said, "Do 
you want me to take over and show you how it's done?"

Rob shouted, "I don't care who! Just get a move on!"

Keyop spun the bottle, and when it pointed to Sherry, Jason 
charged her. She dodged, and Jason pursued her around the 
room, finally tackling her and tickling her.

Chris's shout carried over Sherry's shrieking. "Victor! Blindfold 
round!"

Jason spun. "What?"

"I call blindfold rules! You're blindfolded, and the victim!"

As Chris tied a blindfold on Jason, Jason whispered, "I'm going to 
kill you."

"Not if you die of embarrassment first." Chris's smirk was the last 
thing Jason saw before the blindfold tightened. "Spin it!" There 
was a momentary pause until the bottle rattled to a stop, and then 
everyone shrieked with laughter. Chris thundered, "On the lips! 
Blindfold round is on the lips!"

Jason turned scarlet. "Remember how I said someone here is a 
dead man?"

"You were so hot to play this game!" Chris shouted. "Go on, do it! 
If you don't, it's the Drum round next, and you don't want that!"

It was lucky Jason was in the hot seat, otherwise they might have 
noticed Rob and Chris's stifled laugh and realized what was 
happening.

Momentarily Jason felt someone standing right before him, and 
just as he was about to say something, he felt the lightest of pecks 
on his lips. Everyone oohed and whooped. Rob called, "Was that 
your first kiss?"

Jason whipped off the blindfold. Whoever it was had returned to 
the circle. He glared right at Chris and shouted, "Revenge round!" 
before charging, starting an all-out brawl.

The game didn't get any more organized the longer they played. 
Bizarre rounds showed up periodically, like Sweet Sixteen round 
on what was supposedly the sixteenth play. There were running 
tackles, impromptu teams, girls versus boys tag-team rounds, 
rounds of Marco-Polo that ended with blindfolded kisses, and 
unlimited shrieking laughter. They didn't post a lookout. Why 
bother? They couldn't have hidden the evidence on a moment's 
notice. Mark looked pale with terror when he wasn't flushed with 
hysterics.

After an hour and a half, during another Wink round, one of the 
Lipchik twins was chasing Rob around the gymnasium. As Rob 
dodged the twin, he snagged his foot between the last two 
mattresses and crashed headfirst into the parquet floor. At first 
everyone laughed, and the twin tickled him before darting away, 
but Rob didn't get up right away. They all fell silent.

"Aw, crap..." Chris was closest, and he tried to help Rob sit. "Get 
up, man! You're fine!"

Rob looked confused, and he didn't reply. Jason had skidded 
across the floor to stop right in front of him. "Are you hurt?" Both 
Lipchik twins had melted to the far end of the group. Everyone 
else had closed in around Rob, and Jason ineffectually tried to 
make him some room by firing a fierce stare at the crowd. "Back 
off, will you? He doesn't look good."

Mark came up behind Jason. "We need an ice pack. Tiny, go get 
the first aid kit too."

Tiny ran for the medical kit. By the time he returned, Rob was 
talking softly, and Mark was running his hands over Rob's ankle. 
Mark put the cold pack on the ankle, then told Rob to lie down. A 
minute later, Mark left the room.

"Where's he going?" Chris asked.

Jason shrugged. "Probably looking in a first aid book or 
something. Good chance to earn his next merit badge."

Princess stood beside Jason, hands on her hips, keeping the 
other girls clear of the area. With her hair dishevelled and a 
worried ferocity to her eyes, she more than looked the part of a 
"Police Line: Do Not Cross." Facing away from Rob, she was the 
first to see Mark burst into the gym out of breath.

"Everyone," Mark shouted, "I just called security, and they're 
sending down some doctors." Even as Jason jumped to his feet, 
Mark continued, "So we've got to get all these mattresses back in 
our rooms. Now!"

The kids burst into movement, and somehow, amidst all the 
chaos, when two ISO paramedics arrived with a security guard in 
escort, there were no mattresses or cushions in the gym. Nor 
guests. Just Rob, Mark, Jason, Princess, Keyop, and Tiny.

One paramedic examined Rob while the other asked how it had 
happened.

"I don't know," said Mark.

"Were you here at the time?"

Mark nodded.

"All of you?

They all nodded. Yes.

"And none of you saw how it happened?"

They all shook their heads. No.

Some conspiracies are easier to detect than others. The 
paramedics didn't press for answers. They decided Rob didn't 
have a concussion but did have a sprained ankle. His parents 
would need to come get him.

Sometime during the course of Rob's impromptu exam, Chief 
Anderson showed up. It was the same as a week ago. Again, that 
stern figure in the doorway, Jason and Rob turning in sudden 
fright, and an unreadable quiet stare from the Chief while Jason 
looked progressively more scared. Ashen, Mark tried to stammer 
something inconclusive about Rob's injury. Princess fled the room.

The fireworks last week...it had been the same thing, the same 
thing that had happened not three months ago before she had a 
home. A man in an alley between two brownstones, hitting his 
son, shouting at him. Her in the wrong place, looking for a 
sheltered spot to spend the night while Keyop played with the rich 
kids on the swings back at the park. Thank God for that. Thank 
God Keyop didn't see. Eventually there had been police cars. 
Princess had huddled behind a dumpster where she'd found a 
wrinkled slice of pizza discarded in its box. Even the terror hadn't 
stopped her from scarfing it down, but then she hadn't run to find 
Keyop until the police had left.

But Mark had dragged her away last week. He'd shoved her into 
her room saying this had never happened before and then run 
back to Jason. She could believe it. That man with the demon-
face in the gym hadn't been the same one who took all his 
evenings for a few weeks and taught her to read, painstakingly 
listening to her sounding out words the others could rattle off in 
seconds. This hadn't been the same man who'd let her pick out 
her own clothes at the store and handed the sales clerk a silver 
credit card without question, never inspecting her purchases. His 
fury had come on with the sudden force of a tornado, a tornado 
Jason had not only caused but also drawn to himself in its full 
power.

Mark had apparently been thrown out of the gym, because a 
minute later he returned, colorless. All he could say was that 
everything would be okay, but that Princess needed to stay put for 
a while. She had, huddled with her pillow clutched to her knees. 
Keeping Keyop at her side the whole time.

Last week, it had been Jason responsible for the trouble. This 
week it was both of them--or if Jason could pass it off completely, 
only Princess herself.

Today wouldn't repeat last week--at least not as far as she was 
concerned. In the bedroom corridor, Princess went from room to 
room and told the others what the paramedics had decided about 
Rob. The Kimmel girls wanted to try getting everyone out through 
the stairwell, but Princess said it was too dangerous, that the 
Chief might catch them all. If there was anything she was good at, 
after all, it was escape. They would try to get the Chief away from 
the gym, and once they did that, someone would tell them to 
leave.

Back at the gym, Princess could hear the Chief's angry words 
even through the closed door. "Are you honestly expecting me to 
believe that your friend was here and got hurt, and you had 
*nothing* to do with it? Nothing at all?"

Princess pressed her fist against her mouth, then retreated down 
the hallway. The Chief would blame Jason because Rob was his 
friend. He'd blame Mark because Mark was supposed to be in 
charge. And she-- He shouldn't suspect her. He couldn't suspect 
she had goaded Jason into pursuing the game. He'd never realize 
she had pressured Mark to follow through.

For a moment she stood in the hallway, considering the options. 
Anderson had hurt Jason last week. She'd seen Jason wince 
whenever he reached on his right side. But she'd also seen the 
regret on the Chief's face late that evening, heard him talking 
softly to Jason in Jason's room so late that he thought all of them 
were sleeping.

She had seen days on the street that she'd sworn never to repeat-
-not after living like a real princess for one day in this building, 
where she could bathe whenever she liked, eat until it hurt, own 
more than one change of clothes, and never, never have to beg 
again. She would do whatever it took to make certain of that.

If he found out...

She wouldn't tell. Let the boys take the bullet for this one.

If they let her, that was. With everything on the line, they might 
convince Anderson to turn her out instead.

Princess scuttled around the corner as Chief Anderson and the 
three boys left the gym. She held her breath listening, then 
exhaled slowly as they turned the other way, toward the Chief's 
office. He'd probably phone Rob's parents. The others could 
escape.

Two minutes later, Sherry Kimmel had shepherded everyone who 
didn't belong into the stairwell, and shortly afterward even the 
sound of many feet disappeared.

Princess fled to her room, upended her backpack on the bed, and 
stuffed in a pair of jeans, two extra pairs of socks, ten dollars, her 
favorite t-shirt, and a sweatshirt. She tossed her jacket on top of 
the bag, then started rummaging through the few things she'd 
acquired since her adoption: a hairbrush, some hairbands, a tiny 
bottle of cheap perfume, and a teddy bear.

Keyop walked into her room without knocking. "Is he all right?"

"I think so." Princess tried not to look at the pile of things at the 
head of her bed. "Keyop, can you leave me alone for a bit?"

Keyop whispered, "Are we going to get in trouble?"

She said, "Hell no." She kissed him on the forehead and sent him 
back to his room.

Last week, she'd heard Jason scream. From behind Mark's 
protective body and around the corner, she had found herself 
simultaneously in this family and alone on the street. Congealed 
pepperoni. A crust almost too tough to chew, even for a starving 
street brat.

Mark said Jason had been pushing Anderson too far since her 
arrival. Princess had seen what jealous people would do. Of 
course he would tell. Jason would spare himself and get her 
thrown out.

Princess gathered up her backpack and jacket, then stashed them 
right at the edge of her closet. She wouldn't leave empty-handed. 
Even a livid Anderson wouldn't force her out like that. Next she 
went to wait by the door to Anderson's office. She heard no 
shouting, only a low stern voice and higher-pitched protests from 
Jason and Mark. Eventually she heard Jason dismissed, and he 
confronted her just outside Anderson's door.

"What the hell are you afraid of?" Jason walked past without 
hardly turning his head. "Mark didn't tell him anything."

"What about you?"

Jason huffed. "What do you take me for? Mark was in charge, so 
he's taking the heat."

"Cool." She folded her arms, then followed him into his bedroom. 
She tried not to think about pepperoni. "You were making that 
whole game up, weren't you?"

"Of course we were. You've never played 'kisswink'. I don't think it 
even exists."

"They talked about it at Covenant House." Princess tried to match 
his iron regard. "They said it was exactly how I said."

"So don't go acting like I pulled one over on you." Jason opened 
his backpack and yanked out his looseleaf binder. "You kept your 
cool, though. I didn't think you would. It was actually helpful. Good 
job."

Princess blinked. "Oh. Thanks, I guess."

Jason waved her toward the door. "I've got homework to do. I bet 
you do too. Get out of here."

Princess didn't open the door even as Jason spread his looseleaf 
on the desk and checked the assignment pad. "Is he going to hit 
him?"

After a deep breath, Jason said, "He said he wouldn't anymore."

"Is he going to get rid of Mark?"

Jason snorted. "I should be so lucky."

"But...he got into trouble."

"Look." Jason turned to face her so the desk lamp was at his back. 
She had to squint to see him, a gesture that unknowingly made 
her look angry. "He said he adopted you. Once he adopts you, it's 
forever. He's never sending any of us back. It doesn't matter what 
we do, if it's malicious or defiant or just plain stupid."

It took a moment for her to respond. "That's what he told you last 
week?"

Taken aback, Jason swallowed. "I--"

"You thought he was going to get rid of you, after the fireworks. 
After he hit you." All the pieces seemed to fit now. Jason had been 
scared of being replaced--scared of her and her cute little brother 
who got all the attention because they were new. He'd pushed 
until one final silly incident had brought the problem to a head. 
Only even at the height of fury, Anderson hadn't thrown him out. 
Frightened by his own loss of control, Anderson had sent his 
friend Margaret Kimmel to make sure Jason was all right, not 
trusting himself to keep his temper. Jason had gone to bed before 
he got back: Jason wouldn't even talk to Tiny that night. But he 
mustn't have gone to sleep after all. Then when Anderson came in 
to check on him, he'd found Jason awake. So they'd talked, and 
maybe they'd reached some kind of understanding. And now 
Jason, at least, was more sure of his place in the family.

Jason was absently rubbing his right arm. She said quietly, "And 
he didn't get rid of you after all."

A glance at the ceiling, and Jason said, "For the eightieth time, no. 
Now will you let me get my work done?"

"Yeah. Do whatever you want."

Tiny had all but vanished. She suspected he was in his room, but 
if he was so much as turning pages in his history textbook, it was 
soundless. There was someone who knew how to escape blame. 
Shortly the elevator chimed, and she peeked at Rob's father as he 
arrived to take home his son. Mark stood beside the Chief, looking 
weary. _Glad it's not me, that's all._ Princess returned to Keyop's 
room and asked to look over his homework. He was copying 
letters and numbers with a #2 pencil in a wide-ruled marble 
notebook.

"We're fine," she said. "Mark took the bullet for us."

Keyop chewed on his eraser, and she pulled it out of his mouth. 
He said, "Now we have to take one for him?"

"Huh?" Princess rolled her eyes. "It's his problem, not ours."

"Oh." Keyop chewed his eraser again.

"Stop it!" She pulled it again from his mouth. "Don't ruin it, or you 
won't have anything left when you make a mistake."

Keyop said, "We owe him. You said. You always said about being 
fair. Never take anything from anyone because they always want it 
back."

"This is different." Princess puffed at her bangs. "They have 
different rules here."

"We still owe him."

Princess stalked to her room. She couldn't hear anything from 
Mark, but whatever Anderson was doing to him, it wouldn't be too 
bad. Not if the Chief hadn't booted Jason out on his tail. Anyway, if 
it was that bad, Princess certainly didn't want it for herself.

She laid back on her bed and chuckled. Kisswink. So she finally 
had Jason's respect. Well, a bit. Probably made it worthwhile.

This wouldn't be too bad a place to kill time until she was eighteen 
and could move out on her own with Keyop. She might not even 
mind it if they had a pizza tonight after all. They had their own 
rules, maybe, but they weren't that far off from what she had 
learned for herself.

With a grin, Princess sprang off the bed and dumped out her 
backpack, refilling it with her schoolwork. Slinging it over her 
shoulder, she ran the hallway to Chief Anderson's office, where 
Mark still was being lectured. Without knocking, she walked inside 
and spoke right away, not even waiting for an opening. "Chief, I 
need help with my math."

He turned to her looking a little paler than she liked. "Princess, not 
right now--"

"You said you'd help when you got home, and you're home, and 
it's really frustrating." She dropped the bag on his desk and sat at 
the chair. "You said if I ever had any problems you'd help me. 
Please, Chief."

The Chief looked at Mark, who was quite carefully not looking at 
Princess. She flashed a smile in his direction as the Chief quietly 
dismissed him. The departure came quickly and in total silence. 
Even the latch on the door didn't click in Mark's wake. She opened 
her workbook to the long division page and pulled out her new-
smelling pencil with its fresh eraser, then set her eyes on Chief 
Anderson's face, waiting to see what trick he'd pull to make this 
mystery simple the way he had all the others.

Maybe she still owed Mark for what happened today. Springing 
him wasn't the same as getting him off the hook. But if she did, 
there was plenty of time to pay him back. She really was here to 
stay. There was the rest of her life to make amends, and maybe 
someday she would take a bullet for him.

******************