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Show 62 He looked like a bad ass, that was what Roger said. But there were moments when he was alone with Sharon that the sneer vanished, and he was pleasant enough. However, she sensed a hardness in David-something more than teenage rebellion. In terms of the school authorities, he was "poorly adjusted." He had given the nuns such fits in parochial school that Katie had finally removed him-or more exactly, had withdrawn him before he was offically expelled-and had enrolled him in the public junior high. Those cowlicks-that was why he had done so poorly in parochial school-what nun would not react against that image? Sharon was secretly convinced of that. But David was doing little better in public school. Almost weekly, a phone call came from the principal. It was after one such call that Katie cornered David. In the front room, Sharon did not have time to leave. What the hell was going on? He sneered, mumbling something about the teacher who had complained never giving him an even break-Katie did not let him finish, her hand snaked out and slapped him soundly across the face. His eyes flattened, his hands balling into fists at his sides. He stuck out his jaw, his sneer deepening. Katie paused, taken aback for a moment. Then raising her open hand, slapped him again, harder-he spun away, eyes rolling, just catching his balance before falling. She had put her weight into it, she was a big woman. Without turning to face her, he staggered from the room, the back of his neck burning red. Afterwards, Sharon wondered: would he have provoked that second slap if she had not been there, if it had been just Katie and him in the room? Katie should never have slapped him. Never. Even if it had been |