Date: Wed, 17 Oct 2012 18:03:05 -0700 (PDT)
From: Tori <letoria69@yahoo.com>
Subject: Karen and Laci Chapter 7

Chapter 7
Confrontations

Ff, rom, no sex –

For casual or accidental readers, this chapter has no sex, and it requires
reading the previous 6 or it will make no sense. This one is truly from my
heart.


For my Dear Friend Chris, who has much faith in me, deep and profound
insight, and the patience and heart to help guide an occasionally high
strung woman through rocky shoals. Aliquam mi omnia ad utilitatem et
provocationem....Letoria



Suddenly I turned around and she was standing there
With silver bracelets on her wrist and flowers in her hair
She walked up to me so gracefully and took my crown of thorns
"Come in," she said, "I'll give you shelter from the storm."
       Bob Dylan "Shelter From the Storm"



Karen sighed deeply. She turned to look at Laci in the dim light of the
dashboard instruments. "Laci, darling. What is it that's so important that
you have to go back there to get it?"

Laci shrugged. "Just something I need. Please Karen? Please? It'll only
take a minute, and it's not like I'm going someplace strange. I only lived
there with her for, like ever. It's no worse than it was a few weeks ago
when I was there every day."

Karen sighed again. Her intuition was screaming at her that a bad moon was
on the rise. However, Laci's eyes were pleading, and she couldn't resist
that look. "Laci, I just have a bad feeling."

Laci rolled her eyes in the way only teenage girls can. "It'll only take a
minute. Drop me off, and I'll run up and run back. Don't be such a worry
wart."

Karen let out one more sigh. "OK. If you promise not to screw around, get
in, get out." Karen shifted the car into drive and pulled out.

It was much easier to drive and park on the downtown streets now. The city
cleared away the high banks with graders and tractors, and an enormous snow
blower came along and chewed up the filthy snow, spitting into the back of
dump trucks. Karen wheeled down the seedy street until she was in front of
the decrepit 4-story tenement, on the opposite side of the street, where
Laci once stayed.

"Now hurry up," Karen said. "I'm going to go turn around and wait for you
right in front, OK?"

"'Kay," Laci said. She leaned over and kissed Karen before grabbing her new
satchel bag and stepping out. "Be right back...promise!" And she darted
across the street.

================================

Laci scurried up the steps and into the first floor entryway. It was quiet
and cold. She mentally went over what she needed to grab. Not much, really,
mostly the Teddy bear. The thought of leaving the Teddy bear Karen gave
her, Karen's own childhood Teddy bear, in that cesspool was
unthinkable. Karen probably wouldn't understand, so it was best to be
vague. Besides, why was Karen so afraid?

Laci hurried up the stairs to the second floor landing, tracing her fingers
along the banister railing. She stopped in front of the door to the old
apartment and listened. It was quiet. She put her hand on the knob, turned
it and stepped inside.

Her stomach immediately dropped. The familiar cat-urine smell of meth
filled the air. The only lights in the house came from the over-stove
fluorescent and a small table lamp in the living room. Her mother and the
boyfriend Gerry (or was it Gary?) were sharing a meth pipe in the dim
light, beer cans littering the floor. "Well well well," her mother
cackled. "Look what just came through the fucking door."

Laci froze like a deer caught in a truck's headlights. High on meth and
drunk. Not good.

"Miss High and Fucking Mighty. Where the fuck have you been the last
goddamned week, you worthless fucking whore?"

"None of your business," Laci hollered, unable to think of anything better.

"The fuck it ain't." Sandra jumped up and came at Laci, her body as tense
as an over-wound watch. Even in the dim light, Laci could see her eyes were
like two burnt holes in a blanket. "Where the fuck you been, slut!" Sandra
yelled.

Laci's mouth went dry, and she began to shake. Everything began to appear
fuzzy and muddled. Her mother was spoiling for a real fight, and she had
Boyfriend to back her up. "What do you care," Laci said, trying to sound
defiant but failing miserably. She quickly skittered to her old room and
reached into her closet for the Teddy bear.

Her mother was in no mood to respect the door on this night. Laci stuffed
the bear in her bag, and her mother yelled, "What the fuck are you stealing
this time, you thieving little cunt whore?"

"Nothing," Laci cried.

"Lemme see, you fucking thief! Lemme see!"

"No! Leave me alone!"

Laci instinctively tried barging passed her mother, but it didn't
work. Sandra, snarling, grabbed Laci by the hair and swung her open hand,
connecting with Laci's face with a sharp crack. Laci screamed, only dimly
hearing her mother say, "I'll teach you, you no good cocksucking thief! You
think you can push me around and get away with it, missy bitch!"

Laci twisted frantically, and managed to slip away before her mother could
hit her again. Nothing registered very clearly in her mind. Raw panic took
over. She screamed and turned to run away, and ran smack into the boyfriend
Gerry. "You little fucking punk!" He sneered, grabbing her by the
jacket. "Think you can wiggle your ass and get away with it? Steal my
money?" He pushed her back against the trash-laden table sending piles of
assorted junk crashing to the floor.

The boyfriend grabbed her by the hair and backhanded her across the side of
the head. Laci screamed as loud as she could, but she was sure she might as
well be mute for all the good it did.

Her mother came charging at Laci, her fists pin-wheeling wildly as she
tried to attack Laci while her boyfriend Gerry held the girl. "I'll teach
you to steal from me you no good ass-sucking little cunt!" Her fists
connected several times. Gasping as though she'd run up the stairs, her
eyes blazing, Sandra screamed, "I'll show you, you nasty fucking cunt!"

Laci was sure she was about to be raped and murdered. High on meth, drunk,
bitterly angry, bad combination. "I shoulda fucking killed you years ago!
You think you're such a tough bitch, ain't so fucking tough now, are you?"

"You hold your fucking piss," the boyfriend Gerry snarled at Sandra. "This
little fucking slut whore is mine first, then you can do whatever the fuck
you want!"

"Hurry the fuck up! I'm gonna teach this rotten cunt a lesson she shoulda
had years ago!"

Laci struggled to free herself, but Gerry the boyfriend grabbed her arm and
wrenched it back. In her terror, all she could manage were the piercing
cries, "Karen! Karen! Karennnnn! Help me Karen! Oh God, Help Meeeeeeee!"

-----------------------------------------------------------------

Karen drove the car around the block so she could park on the right side of
the street. She was nervous without really knowing why. Laci was right –
wasn't she? She'd been in that apartment nearly every day until a week
ago. Why should it be any different now?

Karen pulled the car up to the curb in front of the house. That's when it
hit her, like a bolt from above. *What the fuck are you THINKING! What in
God's name is wrong with you? Letting that child go up there ALONE? Are you
high?* "Oh God!" she said aloud. Her stomach did a freefall, her heart
exploded and ran like an out of control jackhammer. Hands suddenly
fumbling, she turned off the car and instinctively pawed at the keys. She
yanked them free and burst from the car. The one rational part of her mind
still functioning chuckled and said, About to meet the infamous Laci's
mother. *If all's quiet up there, you're gonna have some `splainin' to do.*

Karen ran up the steps of the stoop, ignoring the ice under her heeled
boots. She threw the door to the dilapidated tenement open, and instantly
understood her fear was well justified.

Laci's piercing screeches rained down on Karen like arrows. Oddly, no one
else in the tenement seemed to care about the commotion. "Karen! Karen!
Help me Karen! Please help me!"

For an instant, Karen thought she might vomit. Everything took on a fuzzy
quality, and when she ran to the stairs, it seemed she moved with leaden
feet as she might in a dream. Was this a dream? It hardly felt real. She
climbed the stairs, which seemed to stretch toward eternity. She held her
keys clenched in one fist, the end protruding between her middle and index
fingers. Losing the keys now would not be good.

The door to the apartment was slightly ajar. Karen ran at it and it burst
open with a bang. She might as well have been stepping through the gates of
hell. The filth and the smell were appalling. Even worse was the sickening
sight of Laci being held by the boyfriend while the mother swung her fists
at the child. Karen instinctively screeched in a piercing voice, "Let her
go!"

Amazingly, it worked. Perhaps it was shock of her entrance and the force of
her voice, but the boyfriend lost his grip and the mother looked at Karen
momentarily dumbfounded. Laci skittered free, sobbing.

"Laci! Get out!" Karen hollered. When the child began to protest leaving
without her, Karen cut her like a knife. "Get out of here! Now!" Laci
obeyed.

"Who the fuck are you?" the boyfriend snarled, regaining his wits.

"I'm not a fucking thirteen year old girl, prick!" Karen roared. "You take
me on motherfucker, you better kill me fast, `cause I'll ram your balls
down your throat!"

"Who the fuck are you?" Laci's mother echoed. She grabbed a knife from the
filthy sink, and it wasn't a butter knife.

The boyfriend came toward Karen. She pushed out with her fists, and the end
of the car key jabbed deep and hard into his chest, making him yelp with
fury as he staggered back. She knew she had to get out. The tough woman act
would only carry her so far against two pissed off, methed-up losers. She
backed carefully into the hallway, and the boyfriend charged at her. She
side-stepped, and just as he roared through the door frame, she stuck her
booted foot out. His leg caught it, and in his rage and drugged state,
there was nothing he could do.

It was an image that would play over in Karen's mind again and again,
always in slow-motion. The boyfriend pitched forward without putting his
hands out to catch himself. Like a gnarled old pine tree under the
lumberjack's saw, he ever so slowly toppled with a kind of sick grace. At
last, the side of his face connected with the square corner of the
banister's newel post. There was a huge, loud, deafening crack, as if the
gnarled pine snapped its tether to the stump. Blood splattered out in a
spray as his head snapped back, and he crashed to the floor. Two sounds:
the boyfriend's cry of outraged pain, and the mother's hysterical, "Gerry!"

Karen turned quickly. She clomped down the stairs and stepped outside. Laci
was leaning out of the car window screaming, "Karen! Karen! Get in the car!
Get in the CAR!" the last an ear piercing shriek of pure hysteria.

Karen calmly slid behind the wheel. Her voice firm and irresistible, she
demanded, "Laci! Sit down! Put your seat belt on! Now!"

Trembling and sobbing, the girl complied meekly.

From a story above, a window flew up. Sandra flung herself out, almost to
the point of tumbling to the ground. "You no good rotten cunt! You hurt my
boyfriend. Laci, you fucken slut whore cunt, you ever come back to this
house, I will KILL! YOU!"

Karen spun the car around and drove off at the speed limit. Laci sobbed and
curled up, unable to speak. On the way, Karen pulled over to let two police
cars and an ambulance, sirens blaring, go racing by. Karen knew where they
were going. And now, was the moment of reckoning at hand?

==========================

Laci remained curled up in the passenger's seat, quietly sobbing, her cries
stabbing Karen's heart like a dagger. For now, all Karen could do was reach
over and squeeze Laci's thigh. Karen herself trembled all over, a nasty
taste lingered in her mouth, and her body was covered in a sticky sheen of
sweat.

When they got home, Laci's tears had subsided to an occasional sob. Laci
let out a low, agonized moan that burned into Karen's soul. Helpless, she
reached over and touched Laci's neck. "Come baby, we're home."

Trembling, Laci rose up and slid weakly out of the car. Karen ran around to
the other side and slipped her arm around the girl. "Are you okay? Can you
walk if I help you?"

"I can walk," Laci nodded. "I'm okay."

Karen reached into the car and grabbed Laci's bag. It amazed Karen that the
girl somehow managed to hold on to it while being beaten. The bigger
curiosity was why she hung on to it. Why was the bag so important? Karen
mentally shrugged. At least the girl was safe. Karen led her into the
house.

Karen dropped the bag and helped Laci shed her coat. In the light, Karen
was able to get a good look at Laci's face. She looked spent, totally
drained. Her eyes were lusterless, a deeply troubling thing to see in Laci,
who's eyes normally sparkled with entrancing life. She had ugly red marks
on the left side of her face, but it didn't look like any of them would
lead to a black eye. Karen bent and kissed her with great tenderness. A
mother's kisses made boo-boos better, Karen thought. How many of Amy's
boo-boos were made better by Karen's kisses?

"Do you hurt anywhere else, baby girl?"

Laci shook her head. "No, just where they hit me."

Karen gathered Laci into her arms and held her close. Laci let out a long,
quivering breath, but she was otherwise quiet. She kept her cheek pressed
against Karen's breast. Karen stroked Laci's long hair. Her hair, hair the
monstrous, putrid excuse for a human being had grabbed and used to hold her
in place. Yet even now, it was as soft as mink. It was one of the things
that carried Laci from the merely beautiful to the sublime.

A fresh and horrifying thought arose unbidden in Karen's still churning
brain. An image of what would have happened if she hadn't gotten there in
time, if she'd decided to go put gas in the tank instead of parking in
front of the apartment. Rape, a horrible, agonizing, monstrous violation
that would have filled the child with a terror beyond comprehension. Then,
death, an agonizing death, strangulation, stabbing, beating, while
Laci.... *Godammit Karen! Stop this insane bullshit!* Karen mentally
screamed at herself. *It didn't happen, so stop this shit right now!*

The thought made her insides tighten up, and a wave of nausea so intense
that it brought her close to vomiting swirled through her. When it passed,
she kissed Laci's forehead. "You okay to go upstairs, kitten?"

Laci lifted her head and nodded. "Yes. I feel better when I'm with you."

She lifted Laci's chin and kissed her lips with love. "Come on, precious."

Laci took the stairs easily. Karen put the lights on and sat Laci on the
bed. Karen dropped to her knees and pulled the girl's boots off. When she
stood, she helped Laci lay down. "Honey, will you be okay if I go
downstairs for just a few minutes? I want to call my secretary to tell her
I won't be in tomorrow, and lock the doors and put the alarms on."

Laci tried to prop herself on her elbow, and she was partially
successful. "I'll be okay if you're not gone too long. And when you come
back, can you bring me something to drink? I'm thirsty."

"Absolutely, kitten. What would you like?"

"Anything, long's it's cold."

"My kitten's wish is my command," Karen said with smile, and Laci attempted
to smile back. Karen kissed her, and she let her lips linger before pulling
back. "I'll be right back," she said, standing.

Laci felt numb inside. Her thoughts were distant and hazy. She was safe,
that's what mattered, safe with Karen. A good thought peaked through the
haze. Karen loved her. There could be no doubt of that any more. Karen had
come in and rescued her, and then stayed there so Laci had the time she
needed to get away. And then Karen did something else, Laci didn't know
exactly what, just that Karen had done it, and whatever it was, it let
Karen get away.

A very disturbing thought tried to enter Laci's consciousness. Even worse
than something bad happening to herself, what if Karen had been hurt,
or.... killed? The thought, even vague and indistinct, made her shudder and
threatened to release the tears again. Laci knew that if Karen had been
killed, she would have had to kill herself. There was no question of
alternatives. She grimaced hard to push the thought down.

Karen hated the thought of leaving Laci alone upstairs, but she looked
emotionally stable enough to tolerate a few minutes by herself. Karen lit a
cigarette – Laci hadn't been smoking, said it was a part of her old
life. Karen kept trying to quit. No way was quitting on the immediate
horizon, not with the bullshit that was already roaring down the `pike
straight at her.

She looked at her watch. She was startled to see it wasn't even eight
o'clock yet. It felt like midnight. She quickly called her secretary
Marcie's home phone. Marcie sounded startled to hear the caller was
Karen. "Hi Marcie, sorry to call you at home, but I wanted to let you know
I won't be in tomorrow. Something's come up."

"Oh. OK. Is it serious?"

There was no nosiness in Marcie's question, just concern. Still, Karen's
patience was frayed. "Serious enough that I can't come in tomorrow," Karen
said much more sharply than she intended. But Marcie would clearly
understand the subject was closed and locked. "Sorry to be bitchy Marcie,
but my nerves are frazzled. I'll be in Wednesday."

The call done, Karen looked in the refrigerator. There was a pitcher of
fruit punch, something Laci liked a lot. Karen found a large insulated cup
with a cover and straw. She filled it to the top and snapped the cover
on. She finished her cigarette and went to the alarm panel, quickly arming
the system. She was about to head back upstairs when she kicked Laci's bag.

She suddenly wondered if whatever it was Laci went up there for in the
first place was in the bag. Karen brought the bag to the dining room table,
set the drink down, and opened it. At first, it appeared that only Laci's
normal stuff was in there. Then, crammed in a corner, she saw something
white. She reached in and instantly froze.

Karen drew her hand out, and she stared at what Laci simply had to
retrieve. A wave of dizziness sloshed over her, bringing her close to
fainting. Her hand trembled and tears welled in her eyes.

A Teddy bear. Karen's own childhood Teddy bear, the one that had comforted
her on bad nights, the one Amy didn't care about, the one she had given to
Laci instead. A Teddy bear. A godforsaken Teddy bear. And clutched in the
bear's paws, a picture. A picture of Karen with her arm around Laci's
shoulder, Amy carefully excised from it so it was just the two of
them. Karen stared at it for...who knows how long. Ten seconds? An hour? A
Teddy bear. That's what the child felt was so important she had to go into
a living, breathing hell to retrieve.

Karen's legs trembled violently. She dropped heavily onto one of the solid
wooden chairs. Then the tears came. There was no stopping them this
time. Karen dropped the bear on the table, covered her face with her hands,
and sobbed violently but quietly, tears streaming down her face in a hot
river. Her body hitched with each sob. How, she thought, how could anyone,
especially a mother, hurt a child who still loved Teddy bears? Her Teddy
bear? The one that made her own hurts better on dark nights; the one that
now made Laci's hurts better. Some monstrosities did not deserve to
live. Some bundles of putrefying flesh and bone were not human beings.

They hurt my baby, my love, just because she wanted her Teddy bear. Oh God
help us all, and it's me who would go to jail for loving this child. Can we
be any more fucked up?

With great effort, Karen got herself somewhat composed. She had to be
strong – very strong – for Laci. Laci was the one who'd been hurt
tonight. Karen went to kitchen and ripped off two squares from the paper
towel dispenser. She wiped her tears, blew her nose, and took a deep
breath.

Karen retrieved Laci's drink and the bear. She hurried upstairs, pausing a
moment to go to the bathroom and wash her face. She didn't want Laci to
know she had been crying. When she returned to the bedroom, Laci had her
arm flung over her eyes. She lifted her arm and looked at Karen with a
puzzled expression. "I was starting to worry," Laci said softly.

Karen helped her up and gave her the cup. Laci sucked gulp after gulp of
punch through the straw, watching Karen closely. Karen put the bear on the
vanity, and when she turned around, Laci was looking at her with worried,
sad eyes. Karen could feel her heart tremble again. "Karen, you've been
crying. I didn't mean for you to be upset or sad."

Karen sat down next to Laci. "Oh kitten, you didn't do anything to upset
me, oh no honey girl."

"Why were you crying?" Laci instinctively knew it had something to do with
the Teddy bear, but she couldn't understand exactly what it was.

"Oh honey. Just the stress. We've both had a pretty intense evening, you
much more than me. It all kind of caught up with me downstairs. I'm better
now. Really. Are you okay?"

Laci looked down. "I think so. Like I said, as long as you're with me, I'm
okay. Karen?"

Karen caressed Laci's cheek. "Yes baby?"

"I love you. I just love you so much, and I don't know how to say it any
harder."

Karen glanced at the bear. "Yes you do know how to say it harder, and you
have kitten, trust me, you have. Come, let's change into our jammies."

Laci thought she understood what Karen meant; it had something to do with
the bear, but Laci's brain was too overwhelmed to makes sense of such
things just yet.

Karen went to the bureau and got clean night clothes, a flannel nightie for
herself, and the pink Hello Kitty footie pajamas they'd bought just last
Saturday for Laci. She helped Laci undress – Laci's role was limited to
lifting her arms and standing when Karen told her to. *This is what real
mothers did, they helped their children when they needed it*, Laci thought.

Karen carefully undressed her girl lover, pulling her sweater off,
unbuttoning her new jeans, so tight she had to wriggle them down. Laci
stepped out of them and remained standing so Karen could remove her
bra. Karen looked Laci up and down, searching for bruises. The sight of
Laci's near perfect body stirred no sexual feelings in Karen this
night. Feeling such a hunger tonight, never mind attempting to act on it,
would be a sacrilege.

"Are footies OK?" she asked. "Not too warm?"

"No, I like footies."

Karen finished dressing the child, then quickly undressed herself. "Laci
honey, can you unhook my bra?"

When Laci unhooked Karen's bra, she couldn't resist laying her cheek on
Karen's back so she could feel her mother-lover's soft, warm skin touching
her own flesh. She turned her head so she could kiss Karen between her
shoulder blades. She suddenly felt like crying again, and it was only with
effort that she controlled herself.

Karen pulled her nightie on and turned to take Laci in her arms. Oh how she
loved the girl, everything about her. She remembered the times after she
first met Laci, how captivated she was by the child's beauty, her
sweetness, her appreciation for any kindness shown her. She resisted having
Karen pick her up for visits, and when Karen did, it was always at the
public library. "She doesn't want you to see where she lives," Amy had
explained to Karen. Laci was appalled when Karen mentioned it might be a
good idea to meet her mother. Laci's horrified expression had so moved
Karen that she dropped the subject. Was it that bad? *Oh Karen, you were so
damned naive.*

Karen knew from the address that Laci came from one of the worst
neighborhoods in town. She didn't know how bad until she drove down the
street one afternoon. It appalled her. Closely packed 4 and 5 story
apartments with decrepit stoops; street and sidewalks teeming with filthy,
partially dressed children of all ages; tough, tattooed, and pierced men
swaggering cockily down the street, many being lead by menacing pit-bulls;
drunks staggering up the sidewalks; drugs sold openly; girls of Laci's age
smoking and flirting with adult men; mothers, some enormously fat, some
extremely skinny, many toothless, yelled and screamed at kids of varying
ages, screamed and yelled at neighbors over imagined slights. This was
Laci's world. No. Appalled didn't begin to describe Karen's reaction.

How did such a world manage to produce a Laci? How did the child manage to
maintain not only a decent attitude, but actually thrive when finally in a
decent environment? From the moment of her drive through Laci's world,
Karen made sure the girl always had a place to escape the madness of her
day to day life. The child was amazing.

And now. Now. That world came frighteningly close to destroying one of it's
few beautiful flowers. No, not that world, but products of that world.

Karen snapped her mp3 player into the dock and scrolled the
playlists. "Midnight Blue". Not exactly warm and fuzzy, but beautiful –
and appropriate. Karen dimmed the lights. The sound of Beethoven,
"Moonlight Sonata", dark and morose, rippled from the stereo system, its
haunting melody filling the room like an ocean fog. Fitting Karen thought,
peering out the window. The moon was just passed full, but it was strong
and bright. *Cold hearted orb that rules the night.*

Karen took a red hair scrunchy from the vanity and sat down on the bed next
to Laci. She raked her fingers through Laci's silky mane, caressing
it. Laci looked up at Karen, her face at last reposed. Karen smiled gently
and traced her fingers over the girl's silky cheeks. "Good God Laci," she
murmured. "I never believed it was possible to love someone as much as I
love you."

Laci's emerald green eyes were open and guileless, filled with unspoken
trust. Karen's chest hitched briefly and tears threatened. No, not now, she
thought. Laci turned her cheek toward Karen's caresses. Like drops of rain,
the gentle notes of "Fur Elise" fell around them. "That song is pretty,"
Laci whispered. "What is it?

" It's called Für Elise. Beethoven wrote it for a young girl he really
loved."

 "That's why you're playing it?"

"Yes, baby girl. I love you so much, the music is the nearest I can come to
telling you how much."

"Oh God Karen...." A single tear welled out.

"Sshhhh, kitten. Let Beethoven talk for us."  Karen gathered up Laci's hair
and carefully twisted it into a loose knot atop the girl's head. She
stretched the scrunchy on the nest of silk. She traced her fingers down the
back of Laci's neck, and her kitten shivered. She dipped down to kiss
Laci's neck as softly as a butterfly might.

Now Beethoven gave way to the gently stroking, caressing strings of "Elvira
Madigan", making Karen's heart ache. She stood up and took Laci by the
hands. She tenderly pulled Laci close, draping one arm around her waist and
taking the girl's hand in her fingers. Laci moved close, resting her face
against Karen's breast, breathing in the lilac scent of her mother-lover's
cologne.

Karen stepped, turned, stepped, turned, swaying her hips gently, leading
the girl. "Karen. I don't know how to dance."

"Yes you do baby. Follow me, and let the music tell your heart how to
move."

Laci let the sounds swirl around her like smoke. She heard Karen's heart
beating. Karen was right. The music told her how to move. Her heart found
the tempo and she stepped, swayed, stepped, swayed. "It's beautiful,
Karen."

"Yes."

"What is it?"

"Mozart. Elvira Madigan."

"It makes me want to cry."

Karen kissed the top of Laci's head. "Me too, kitten. Me too."

At last, Karen laid her cheek atop Laci's head and surrendered to her
tears.