He reached for her wrist and jerked her back down beside him, his grin still in evidence. "Don't try to run!" he ground out. "Stick around and listen to the reasons why you're going to do what I say!"

Eyes blazing, she said, "Why? Wh-Why should I-I…?"

"To stay out of Juvie! You ever been there… it's just like a jail… you know?"

Curious passersby eyed them, but Ray kept his voice low so that words could not reach them, as he held her tight, the pressure on her wrist painfully firm. "… And, don't make a bad scene! Just listen!" he finished.

"You're hurting my wrist! Let me go… p-please…!"

Ray relaxed his steel-fingered grip on her wrist, slightly, saying, "I don't want to hurt you! Just stay put and listen to what I've got to say! Then, you can make up your mind what you want to do!"

It was completely unreal to her. She was sitting near the middle of the beautiful downtown shopping mall, near the fountain, in the midst of a sunshiny afternoon with hundreds of people walking about, shopping and chatting… and she was being held, against her will, to listen to the vile mouthings of this gangly youth, Ray Donahue… a supposed friend of her brother's.

It couldn't happen! It just could not be!

As he relaxed his grip, she sat forward, poised for flight, like a game bird. All right, she would listen… for a while. She was curious, now, to know what it was all about.

Picking up his remark concerning Juvenile Hall, she asked, "Wh-What are you s-saying about Juvie? I-I've never done a-anything b-bad to be sent there!" Unconsciously, she also kept her voice low, not wanting anyone in the passing crowd to hear the crazy conversation in progress.

"All right," he said, leering at her, "I'm going to lay it on you! Now, listen close! Donnie's been laying you… and I know it…"