Unless you’re crazy and have an invisible friend or something.”“Oh,” I said, trying not to show my relief. “Uh, Joe had to go back home. Fam...ly emergency. That kind of stuff.”“Oh. Do you mind if I ask you a personal question?”“You can ask. But I don’t give any guarantees on an answer.”“Fair enough. Are you in love with that girl?”“What girl?” I said, looking around.“No, you dumb ass. That girl you were staring at in chemistry.”“Oh. No. I don’t even know her.”“Really? That’s good.”“Why is that. "Scalpel not strong enough to cut titanium." Why do Americans always devolve to pigeon-English when dealing with someone who's grasp of English is not complete?"I know, but..." She broke out into Chinese, which she aimed at Zhengfu."She's correct," Io said in my ear. Obviously her translation facilities were online. "I don't know if it will work, but it's the only thing we can do here."Zhengfu translated for us 'English only bio-units.' "Dr. Fa will try to cut the scalp only around the edges of. She'd just smiled and eventually went into the house to relieve herself for the umpteenth time that day.Her parents approached Kevin while she was gone. They brought whiskey to help settle the matter. Kevin was skeptical. Given the young men he'd seen today, he understood the predicament. The rapport he felt he had with Sheelagh, he said, required him to ask Sheelagh himself. No intermediaries.Sheelagh told him it was her idea and bashfully blinked her Irish blue eyes at Kevin.oOoLater that. "Dad said, "You have to pay that money back don't you?" Yes I do. As I said, I will just borrow more money and use that to pay the interest. Before the end of the year we will see how much gold I should sell to keep the taxes where they should be. I bought some property too, dad. There are two farms across from the church that are good for nothing basically but are now mine."Grandpa said, "Why did you buy such worthless property. All it is good for is hunting and picking blueberries?" That.