These potential consequences sent a chill down Kevin's spine. Mia's warning had come just in time. He needed to get back on track. Pedaling the bike home, he arrived just as his mother, Rachel Harris, was chatting with a neighbor at the door.
"Kevin, why have you been coming home so late lately? Have you finished your homework?" Rachel said sternly, her face showing some anger. She was a still-attractive woman with a resilient spirit. After her husband's death, she had shouldered the burdens of life alone and brought up Kevin with great effort. Thankfully, Kevin had been obedient and doing well in school, which was her greatest comfort in an otherwise difficult life.
"Oh, our homeroom teacher asked me to help. I finished my homework at school," Kevin quickly explained when he saw his mother upset. Besides his homeroom teacher, Camila, his mother was the woman he feared most in the world. As a child, his tender buttocks had often suffered from her wrath.
