I spent an hour and a half in Morrisons helping with the shopping, mymother kept up the treatment ? buying me a packet of tampons andpromising to show...me how to use them. To be honest I was so far gone itwas a wasted effort.We returned to the car and started home ? I lost it again and pleadedtearfully with her not to take me home like this. She just laughed.When we got home the drive was empty, my mother remarked that everyonemust have gone to collect my sister from the party, like she. One evening, Sharath returned from the volleyball game to the room accompanied by a guy called Suraj.I had known him casually as a hostel mate, our batchmate, interested in chess, music, etc. But with maths as the major and so not as a close friend. Sharath told that Suraj knew everything about me and was eager to meet me. He was of Sharath’s height, fair. But he appeared stronger with his gym-toned body exhibiting broad shoulders, massive biceps, raised bun-like firm pecs, with a deep furrow. .”“You assumed wrong, Jesse. I happen to know that Gilleena is rather smitten with you. And from what I’ve seen, you feel the same way about her. Am I wrong?”Total surprise!“Um, you’re not wrong about me, but I didn’t know she felt the same way. I hoped she did, but I didn’t know. Are you saying you’d allow her to actually marry me? Have kids with me?”He turned to face me and took my shoulders in his hands. “Jesse, I don’t think you understand the nature of our culture or our relationships, and. He pours it into the mug with shaking hands. They are coarse and calloused. They are seemingly hewn from something bigger, something of rough strength. The lights flicker momentarily, and he wonders whether he will need to go out to the generator and kick it again, like he did last night. It sits in a small outhouse next to the cottage, and allows him to keep in touch with modern life. Or, at least, as in touch as he wants to be. No mobile phones out here, thank Christ. No telephone or.