As he took hisassigned place on the floor, he noticed a largebox placed in the corner of the room. He had not seen itwhen he left for his game, and ha... been too preoccupied to notice it when theyhad gotten home. It looked to be about three feet square, and made of some sortof black plastic. It had an ominous air, and the boy got a chill just lookingat it. He heard his girlfriend approach behind him, knowing better than to turnaround and look. It was best to just ride out her anger and hope that. We were just-““Don’t worry, boy. I ain’t hear to lecture nor condemn. Name’s Roger. I just o’erheard your little problems jus now and, well, you three remind a bit of myself when I was yur age. Figured, mebbe y’all could use some guidance.”His demeanor was oddly calming. He wasn’t gonna humiliate them by accusing them of being depraved perverts? Irredeemable scumbags? Inhuman freaks?Still...“I thought you said you weren’t here to lecture.”“Oh I ain’t,” Roger said, “See now, way I see it, you. If you cannot read or write, I will teach you.”“What of cloths, Husband?” She tried the word as if for the first time in her life.“I rescued some from the house before we left, they will do until you have something else.” I indicated the sack across the room with my possessions in it.She rose and walked naked across the room, carefully she searched through it; there was a white tunic of fine weave and a cloak to match, a second tunic dyed a pale red, and a pair of sandals. The girl stared at. "Look, Mom, I have to go. I'll talk to you tomorrow." She waited—just barely—until her mother said good-bye, then clicked the phone shut. Why do I do this to myself, she wondered as she stood resting on the crutches. She stared at the wall as though the answer might appear in the eggshell paint. It was useless and she knew it. Hadn't years of the same thing taught her anything? Hadn't she learned over the past twenty-three years what the answer would be? She stared at the phone in her hand..