Shawna's Reply

Every email from Rik—including the most offensive ones—was followed by a reply from Shawna. Shawna's terminology was not as raw as Rik's, but Stevie was appalled at the suggestive words and phrases her daughter had used to stoke the fire in her perverted suitor. Most disturbing was the realization that Rik was in his twenties, and that he was the one with whom Shawna had intended to rendezvous at camp. Having read every word in the folder, Stevie pushed the chair back from the desk. She felt dirty inside and out, violated, as if Rik's blatant overtures had been directed at her. She also felt terrified for Shawna, who was still a naive child, clueless to the danger of encouraging perverts like Rik. Stevie was stunned by the realization that she had unwittingly facilitated the sordid tryst by encouraging Shawna's computer literacy.