There were only a fewdresses hanging in it, but they were all very stylishand feminine and Ray felt envy and desire rise withinhimself. There were sev...ral pairs of shoes on thecloset floor; all of them high heels.“It looks as though she took her work and casualclothes with her and left the dressy stuff here,”thought Ray.He took down a dress of black crepe and held it upagainst himself. It was a size 11 and looked as thoughit would fit him perfectly. He overcame that thoughtand. I had to hear about it from my friends all morning." I started to cry as my biggest fear became a reality. "Ah, I see it's true then. So he got to take your virginity, not me, right?" "Steve..." I sobbed, "Steve, I'm so sorry. Please, you have to listen to me. I didn't have a choice." "Are you saying he forced you, Jackie?" "No Steve... but listen to me!" "No, Jackie. Fuck that! Unless he forced you, there's no excuse. What the fuck? We were dating and you wouldn't fuck me until after you gave. Smack ... "don't" ... smack ... "play" ... "any" ... smack ... "more" ... smack ... "games" ... smack ... "like" ... smack ... "that" ... smack ... "with" ...BEEPOne of the machines beeped, she had a caller. I leaned forward and wiped the tears from her eyes, kissed her on the forehead, and headed for the basement stairs. I flicked off the light, leaving her trembling in the blue glow of the monitors.I spent the morning sitting on a lounge chair next to the pool. It was early and still too. I decided to take her advice, and for the record, I'm glad that I did. You deserved it and a helluva lot more of it besides. But, that said, Irv, I have a big problem with the way you've turned out to be these past almost four years. You're a wimp Irv, a candyass of heroic proportions. You're smart, but you have no get up and go." I could feel my face cloud over."That it," I said, my voice barely a whisper."Almost. Irv, I'm going to tell you something that will undoubtedly hurt you. Can't be.