At the bar that night Stacey was soon pretty drunk. I had been supplying her with some strong drinks for several hours. Robert had asked her to dance ... slow dance with him a couple of times and I could see that he was enjoying himself as he ground himself against her. She didn't seem to mind, though, or maybe she was so drunk she didn't notice, I'm not sure which.When they got through with their dance, they sat down at our table I watched as Robert began feeling up Stacey. My wife didn't say. She didn’t say otherwise, either.I knocked lightly on the door and waited. “Dori? It’s Ryn, are you awake?” Nothing. Only silence from the other side. Only silence from everywhere. I waited a moment longer. I didn’t want her to feel I didn’t want to spend time with her, too, but I didn’t want to disturb her or force a response if she wasn’t comfortable. “Sleep tight, dear.” It was simple and quietly spoken. If she was awake, she would know my intention. If she wasn’t awake, no foul and no harm. “Mom, could I have a coke with dinner?”“Yes, I suppose so.”“I’ll have dinner and then go to my room and read, I got a new Mickey Spillane novel.”“That’s nice honey. See you tomorrow.”I laughed and dipped a small amount of chowder into a bowl and put the bowl in the sink. I am supposed to wash my dishes and put them away, but I rarely do. Mom will see the bowl and spoon and assume I ate. Dad won’t notice my bowl even though he will probably set his right next to mine. This is better. Mom pulling. It both allowed and paid for therejuvenation treatments.I was a little hesitant to become ten years younger. I was6'2" tall right now, and wasn't too thrilled about becoming4'2" tall. I was glad that I wouldn't have to go to summerschool, but the idea of going back to first grade in thefall wasn't very appealing. But when I thought about it, Irealized that going to first grade would be a breeze, whilegoing to ninth grade would be a struggle.Maybe it would be best this way. I would have another.