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"When I got to college," Micki began, "I might just as well have been named Micki Hitler. I had wanted to go to school far away because I wanted to be more anonymous, but I found out that my father's name is known all across the country. So, kids would say things about him, and I'd defend him. Not even because I thought he was right about every little thing, but because you defend your blood. You remember all those stories about how he stood up for Paul when they were kids, even when Paul was wrong and my father would beat the shit out of him later at home.

"So, anyway, I got in trouble a few times, for fighting and stuff, but nothing too bad. But then I started trying to figure out why the entire student body of this big, fancy school all seemed to think my father was a monster. So, I started doing some reading, newspapers and magazines, and then I started to wonder if maybe they were right. It didn't seem reasonable that they could all be malcontents and crybabies."

She sighed and leaned back in her chair, then she brought her legs up and folded them under her. "You know my record in high school. I didn't get into a school like that on my own merits. And, between the fights and everything else, plus a lot of partying, I admit, I wasn't in good shape grades-wise. I decided to hell with it, I was going to leave school and come back here. I wanted to know the truth, a lot more than I wanted to know about calculus or anthropology or whatever."

Susan nodded. "So, you came back. I can understand that. But why did you come back as Carly Stein?"

Micki looked around. "Do you have anything to eat? Just anything? A piece of bread would be fine. I'm really hungry."

Susan got up and took some bagels from the breadbox. She brought them over on a cutting board, along with butter, jam and a big knife. Micki sliced a bagel in half and buttered it. She started chewing a piece, then said, "Thanks. Anyway, Carly was a year ahead of me at school. I guess maybe her father helped me get in." Susan nodded. "We'd never been close, she's a real religious type, very strict, but we got more friendly after I got there because she sort of understood what I was going through, the whole thing about my father."

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