He looked at her feet for a long time. "Your car was almost six miles from that gas station. I tracked the mileage. Did you walk it?"

Susie looked down at her hands on the table and nodded.

"In the dark?"

She looked up at him again, this time with tears in her eyes.

"With no shoes." It wasn't a question.

Susie nodded once.

He pressed his lips together obviously trying to keep his emotions under control. Susie teared up, ashamed that she may have made her father angry.

He took a deep breath. "This is my fault. If I'd just gotten your car fixed at the first sign of trouble--"

"Papi, this isn't your fault. It's mine. I didn't know what to do or where to go, so I took off. I didn't check the gas gauge or anything. I didn't even know where I was going."

"Why didn't you tell me what happened? You didn't have to run away."

"I didn't want to hurt you, too."

"Me?" The look of shock on his face surprised Susie. "You were worried about hurting me?" He sighed. "Your mother, she goes to extremes sometimes."

"Sometimes?"

Her father shrugged and then nodded. "She'll come around, mariposita. I think this is just like that 'Elect Joe Wilson' thing all over again. We just have to wait for that switch to turn around in her brain. Comprende?"

"I understand, Papi. I just hope it happens in my lifetime."

He looked skyward for a moment as if trying to figure out what he wanted to say next. "Throughout every walk of life, there will be people who, for whatever reason, won't like who you are or what you do. Sometimes it makes no sense, but the important thing to remember is that the loss is theirs." He pointed at her. "You can't let other people's opinions of you stop you from being who you are."

Susie nodded and looked down. It was amazing how they could have an entire conversation about her liking girls without saying any of the actual words like queer or gay. She looked back up at her father. "Does Mami hate me?"

"No, she's just confused, I think." He sighed. "All of this is new for her, and I don't think she's thought it through yet. She doesn't realize how happy you are." He sat back in the chair. "When we first came to New York from Puerto Rico, we moved to Brooklyn. Your Tio Emilio had moved there first and found a Puerto Rican neighborhood. We thought it would be a good place to start our family. Lots of opportunities for school. Such a big state." He smiled at the memory. "But then we realized soon enough that not everybody was fond of our kind moving in. People shouted nasty things at your mother and me, calling us wetbacks, and other derogatory names."

"Isn't 'wetback' an insult for Mexicans?"

Her father nodded. "See? They couldn't even get their insults right."

Susie smiled, but frowned inside thinking about the abuse her parents and Tio Emilio must have taken.

"The last straw, though," her father continued, "was when a couple of white teenagers threw a beer bottle at your mother."

"Did it hit her? Was she okay?" Susie had never heard that story.

"It did hit her. She had a big bruise on her cheek near her eye." He touched his own cheek. "She was more shaken up than anything, but it was then we decided to move and start our family somewhere else. My supervisor in Brooklyn arranged for me to transfer up here, so within a month we were in the North Country starting all over again. We'd done it before, so we knew we could do it again."

"Were things better for you here?"

"Well," he shrugged, "yes and no. We felt a little like aliens up here, but we vowed that we weren't going to let anything deter us from our goals again. We weren't harming anyone and had a right to be here as much as anybody else. Of course, we made sure you kids spoke mainly English, so you wouldn't have the troubles that we did. Other than that, we decided to be ourselves and be proud of who we were."

Susie traced the wood grain pattern on the kitchen table trying to digest what her dad was saying. She looked up at him. "So I should be proud of who I am?"

He nodded. "I will always be proud of you, mi mariposita. No matter who or what you are." His smile was reassuring.

Susie's heart filled. She always liked the way her father's eyes twinkled when he smiled. "Gracias, Papi."

"You may have a tough road ahead, but you have to be true to who you are. Mami doesn't hate you, but you have to be strong and stand up for yourself."

The way he looked at her made her remember that her biggest battle still lay at home. "I'll try, Papi. I'll try."

"That's all any of us can do." He gave her another hug, and said, "Marlee seems like a very nice girl." He winked at her and changed the subject. "So, let's talk about your car."

"Is it okay?"

"Mrs. McAllister's doctor friend and her husband own a repair shop, and," he pulled a business card out of his pocket, "Aldwell's Auto Repair will be replacing the starter for a helluva lot cheaper than Moe's ever would have. My daughter's got good connections here in Clarksonville."

"I didn't even know it." She laughed. "When will my car be done?"

"It'll take about a week, so I guess you'll have to bum rides for a while."

Susie looked back down at the table trying to organize her thoughts. She needed time to think. Time to figure out how to handle her mother. She almost lost her nerve when she looked back up and took in her father's concerned expression. She forged ahead anyway. "Papi, I think I need to stay away for a few more days. I'd like to stay here." She looked back down at the table.

She had no idea what he was thinking and wouldn't have been surprised if he insisted she come home with him. She held her breath waiting for him to respond.

"I don't blame you," he said after what seemed like a year. "I'll figure out something to tell your mother, but--"

"What?" She remembered to breathe again.

"You have to come home eventually."

"I know, Papi. I think Mami and I both need time to regroup."

"We all do." He stood up and gave her another hug. "My little girl is all grown up, I think."

Susie smiled. "Tell Mami that."

He grunted. "I need to get back home."

"You should meet Mrs. McAllister first."

"Okay."

"Marlee?" Susie called toward the stairs.

"Yeah?" came the quick response from the top of the stairs.

"My dad's leaving and wants to meet your mom."

"Okay."

After a minute, both Marlee and her mother came down the stairs into the kitchen. Susie did the introductions, and her father thanked Marlee's mother several times for taking care of his baby. Marlee's mother assured him that it would be perfectly all right for Susie to stay a few more days.

As he was leaving, Susie's father and Marlee's mother exchanged a glance that made Susie understand that they knew the road ahead might be tough for both of their daughters.

Susie felt a little empty while she listened to his car back out of the driveway and pull onto the main road. She listened until she couldn't hear the rumble of his car anymore. Marlee and her mother hovered in the kitchen, but respected her silence. Marlee's mother flashed her a reassuring smile, and Susie knew that she would be okay for a couple of days at least.

The kitchen door burst open five minutes later, and Susie knew she'd be okay when Sam, Lisa, and Jeri flew in. They were on her in a flash.

Sam hugged her. "What the hell, Sus? What happened to you?" She gestured at the wheelchair and then threw her hands in the air in a frustrated gesture.

Susie knew Sam was pissed at her, so she tried to downplay things. "What're you talking about?" Susie smiled. "I've never been better."

"Seriously." Sam laid a hand on her arm. "What happened?"

Marlee, with Lisa's help, dragged a couple of folding chairs from the hall closet into the kitchen. Once everyone was situated, and Marlee made sure her mother was upstairs and out of earshot, Susie relayed the sordid details of the fight with her mother.

"And then I just left. I got in the car and drove around for hours."

"Fight or flight," Jeri said. "You chose flight."

Susie nodded. Like a coward, she had chosen to run away rather than stay and stand up for herself.

Marlee picked up the thread of the story and told them about Susie's long walk without shoes to the gas station. "I started crying when I saw her bloody feet."

"You did?" Susie's heart clenched. "I didn't see."

"Susie, your feet were so bad, and you looked so defeated that I couldn't let you see me crying, too. You were upset enough as it was."

Susie drank in Marlee's concern and compassion and knew she was lucky to have her.

"Dork, just come to my house, next time," Sam said. "Okay?"

Susie nodded, but vowed there would never be a next time.

An awkward silence grew around the five friends until Lisa said, "I'm glad you're okay now."

"Thanks."

"We all are," Jeri said.

Marlee, apparently sensing that the mood needed lightening, blurted out, "Hey, you guys, my mom's giving me the van."

All heads whipped toward her. "What do you mean?" Susie asked.

"My mom asked me if I'd be okay keeping the van. Joan, that's Susie's personal doctor by the way, offered to sell my mom her old Cadillac. Cheap."

"Ooh," Jeri said, "The McAllisters are loaded now, are they? Did you win the lottery or something?"

"I wish." Marlee snorted. "No, my mom says that a Cadillac will look more professional for carting around real estate clients."

Susie leaned in closer to the center of the table. Everyone else did, too. "So, let me make sure I heard you right. The van is all ours?"

Marlee exaggerated her nods and shot Susie a smoldering look.

"Nice." Susie sat back.

"Can we borrow it?" Sam folded her hands in prayer. "Please?"

"Hell no," Susie said. "Get your own van."

"Hey, guys, no fighting," Marlee said.

The phone rang. "Who could it be? You're all here." Marlee jumped up to answer it.

Susie laughed, but then noticed the confused look on Marlee's face as she held the receiver to her ear. "Is everything okay?"

Marlee hung up the phone again. "I don't know. It sounded like there was someone on the other end, but they didn't say anything." She shrugged. "Weird."

"I bet that was Bree," Lisa said.

All heads turned toward Lisa.

"What? I blew up Sam's phone that time she wasn't taking my calls."

Sam hung her head. "One of my not so mature moves."

"Nor mine." Lisa grinned. "That's okay. I didn't lose you forever, so all's well."

Jeri tapped the table. "You guys, this Bree situation is getting kind of serious. You need to get this under control."

Marlee shrugged. "I guess it's time to seriously plan Plan D."

"Plan D? What happened to Plans A, B, and C?" Jeri looked confused. She pushed a lock of her curly black hair behind her ear.

Lisa pushed Jeri on the arm. "You really need to get out more, eh?"

"Obviously," Jeri said with a laugh.

Marlee filled Jeri in on Bree's unwanted attention and their failed Plans A, B, and C.

"Girl," Jeri said with a slow shake of her head, "you've got yourself a real-life stalker."

"No kidding." Marlee tapped the table a few times. "Okay, guys, c'mon. Plan D. Let's start throwing out ideas."

"Let's try to scare her off somehow," Sam said. "Let's make Marlee less desirable to Bree somehow."

"Ooh," Lisa said, "Marlee, you can eat lots of onions and garlic and have really bad breath. Ooh, and don't shower. That way you'll stink, too."