Erica was still unique. Everything and I mean everything, would be great for 6 or 7 weeks and then she’d get moody, say she needed her space and giv... me the old ‘it’s not you it’s me’ bit and we’d break up. If I didn’t know Erica I would have been upset but she searched for different things when we started high school and it seemed as though she didn’t want to get pinned down without having the chance to explore. So we did the break up bit, I let her do her thing and in a month she would want. Then with her eye's still focused on me she planted her hands firmly on her hips. "Is that any way to greet one of my friends?" She asked sternly. "You say hello to Denise like a proper young lady!" She ordered. There wasn't the slightest hint of humor in her voice or in her facial expression. As for me, none of this was really sinking in as my thoughts were fuzzy at best. My mind was operating on automatic pilot, having been overloaded several. “I’ll tell you what I think, honey. I think that, while his intentions may be well meaning, you and I will both need a little light relief in the next few weeks. It’s going to be stressful enough without the withdrawal of my Tuesday and Friday night Francis privileges, and your chance to watch the good doctor bang your sweet little wife on Sundays.”There was something bizarrely reassuring about what Sue was suggesting. To my overloaded and stressed mind, she was almost suggesting ‘business as. ’ she said. I was impressed that her hearing was so good she could hear her painter call her that. I also wondered why she would choose a name given to her by the would be assassin. Nevertheless I called her Paloma from then on. Three days later I took her home to Texas and to my small coastal town. We were playing husband and wife. We moved into our safe house and she began her new life. So did I. I finally got the chance to get her another white cane. I had been assigned as the commander of a.