"I talked to the girls, though!"Neil gave him a blank look, then caught his meaning. "So... is everything cool?"Dave nodded. "Harriet and Ruth had som... heart to heart, though. I was a little concerned us guys were about to be cut from the team" I doubt they've gone lez." Who has?" Ruth asked, sitting with a plate full of salad."Me. I'm giving up the penis" Dave answered, as solemnly as he could manage.Ruth threw a cucumber slice at him and leaned into Neil. "Joining us tonight? I'd love to live. Paul Warren wasn't happy. It had been coast-to-coast post-season travel requirements that he had blamed, in large part, for the Orioles' World Series loss to the Cardinals. The way Paul saw it, the American League Championship Series, played that year against the Angels, had worn his club out. (That had been, so far, the only World Series in Paul Warren's history, either as manager or player.)Now Paul worried about being caught up in another orgy of coast-to-coast October plane rides, in order. It was powerful for being so small. After finding a DVD that titillated him, he grabbed it and asked if I was done. I shook my head yes and we headed to the check out. After handing the clerk his credit card, he clicked me up to 5. I braced myself against the glass counter, now taking short staggered breaths. I looked up to see the heavily tattooed and pierced kid behind the counter nodding his head and laughing after looking over at my neighbor. I was quivering. The same clerk must have. One evening, while she snuggled in his lap before the fire in their little cottage, he began to speak softly to her. She could hear the strained emotion in his voice and felt the cold hand of fear slowly close about her heart. He spoke haltingly, his voice filled with sadness. His gray eyes were filled with tears when he told her it was finally time for him to go. He held her closely and told her how proud he was of her. Of how she had grown into one that was no longer a victim and could stand.