He had to do more than just say thank you to people at the party, he had to call half the Republican powers across the country and thank them. I had a...ready warned him of this ahead of time, but I don’t think it sank in any more than it did with me in 1990. After that, I promised Charlie and Megan a long weekend at Hougomont, and Marilyn and I would take care of the girls in Hereford. Marilyn was practically giddy with the idea. Me, less so, because grumpy old men don’t do diapers. I called. As we waited for her to get out, the football team went streaming past having finished practise. Several of the jocks gave me strange looks but I was only aware of them peripherally as I was concentrating on Helen as she got out of the car.Several of the boys called over to Natasha who responded with a casual wave.Helen walked around the front of her car and I got my first close look at how she'd gone to work, I was impressed. I was starting to realise that I had another perversion when it came. It was 2 pm when I arrived at Shawn’s place and I pounded on his cast-iron bar, covered door. Two of his neighbors watched me from their attached porch while they sat outside smoking what smelled like a joint. It was a long, black cigar emptied of it’s tobacco and filled with marijuana. Both of the late 20 to 30 year old black men smoked their own blunts and let me know that Shawn was gone. I walked over to their porch and asked when he would be back, but they didn’t know. One of the guys held. ‘Here’s what we’ll do,’ he said. ‘I want you to call the store and tell them you have to take some time off to go visit a sick relative.’ ‘But I already told you, I don’t have any relatives,’ Ann protested. ‘I know that, but do they know it at the store?’ he asked. Ann shrugged. ‘I-I don’t think so,’ she said, ‘I-I never talk much about my personal life at the store. Even to the other girls.’ ‘Good,’ Martin said. ‘You can call the store from here. Then I want you to go over to your place and.