And if I had her what would I do? Could I keep her happy? I couldn’t deal with losing her if she ever truly belonged to me, of that I’m sure. Mayb... I should have been paying attention when he was crying over her, maybe it was a lesson I could learn without the pain, but you see I have already learned my lesson from his mistake- you never push too hard, sometimes you have to be content with what you get for awhile. Its kinda funny, she told him once- that she compared herself and her affections. ..yet.Her car had broken down and I offered her a ride home in my truck. Idon't know what ever happened to Skinner, he had long ago disappeared, andall the other guys I knew had also gone their separate ways hours ago.The girl never did tell me her name, but she did ask how old I was. Ilied. I don't know if she believed me or not.I don't think she even cared.When we got to her little place she offered me a beer.Neither of us really wanted to make small talk. I took my beer andchugged half. I mustered as much confidence as it took and strode my best male stride inside."Do you need any help?" came a surly voice from behind the counter. I paused, cleared my throat and said, "I'd like a room please." My attempt to sound like a regular guy definitely sounded like a girl trying to sound like a man. The woman looked at me up and down, and swallowed all of her sarcasm. "How many nights?" she asked nonchalantly. "As many as $200 can get me please." How does four months sound?" That would. When she stopped believing that, things started falling apart for me." We all thought you two were inseparable too." We are. I didn't say we ever stopped being inseparable, only that Joyce had stopped believing that we were. Connections weaken when they aren't tied firmly to each end. All our family's connections were weakened while I was sick. I wanted to reconnect, but there's another part of me that objects to making all the connections firm again. I'm not strong enough yet to make these.