“OK, here’s what we do,” she tells me. “The first step is to get you into a college, you need an undergraduate degree. To do that you have to ...ither graduate high school, which is impossible, or get a GED, which is a paper saying you have the equivalent of a high school education. And to get that you have to pass a test, a written test. One of those is scheduled in about six months, and you’ll need to bone up in a few areas, but I think we can make it.”When she explains further I must laugh. In. Sometimes he would glance around the room, but I couldn't seem to catch his eye. At one point, he'd finished off whatever he was drinking and looked toward the bar, raising his empty glass at the bartender, and continuing to play with his left hand.When I gave him a little wave, he responded with a smile as bright as the sun coming out from behind a cloud. He covered his mouth for a moment and stopped playing entirely before getting control of himself. With a raise of his finger, he mouthed,. But I didn’t like to show any weaknesses. I prefer to suffer alone. He nodded. ‘You sure?’ I nodded, silently. ‘Have that nightmare again?’ he asked, suddenly. I just looked at him. ‘Still no idea who the girl is?’ I just shook my head. He nodded, again. ‘Okay.’ We pressed on and I was grateful. I didn’t want to talk about my problems. Because, in all honesty, I didn’t know what my problem was. I had no idea why I was feeling the way I was feeling. It made no sense whatsoever to me so how. It's Jackie, right?" Mm hmm." OK, Jackie, I know you're just trying to do your job. And I reallydon't mean to be difficult here. But I don't need my nails done, Idon't need my brows thinned out, and I most certainly do not want myhair done." Honey, if you think you can't look any better than you do now, thenyou're not qualified to make that call."I shook my head. "Jackie, that's not the point. I have no doubt youcan make me look better. I'm just not comfortable with the whole idea.I think I.