Effie panted, her chest heaving as she struggled to control her breathing, the stinging imprint across her face felt as if her face were glowing and on fire.  Miss Rogers stood directly in front of her, the voice firm but now much calmer.<br/><br/>“<em>Repeat back the thing I said to you right after I slapped you to get your attention?" </em>Effie heard the teacher say.<br/><br/>For a moment, Efffie’s mind went blank.  The hard slap across her face had disorientated her, and she was still in shock from the image of that awful tattoo emblazoned across her stomach.  She was about to shake her head in despair and admit she did not know, but the fear of taking such an action somehow dragged a vague recollection of Miss Roger’s words from her subliminal consciousness.  Her voice croaked as she struggled to hold back her sobbing.  “I need to know who are my betters, Miss”, Effie whispered.<br/>