Oh, Declan, my friend, meet my sister, my Stephanie! All the way from Shreveport, Louisiana. I’ve moved in with her. Should save me rent that I don�...�t need to pay since Nancy and I split,” I remarked, even as I noticed how quickly the barflies were giving it up.“Is it just me, or are you and your sister ... very close? And how did she get a place so fast?” Declan wondered, noticing how cozy we were together.“Oh, not to worry, sugar. We are very close, as you say, and we just inherited a shitload. Mrs. Shriner started off by telling the students the rules of the schooland had them sign off on them as acknowledgment of them. She paid closeattention to the rules regarding sexual orientation and gender, notingspecifically that anyone violating the rules would be suspended orexpelled. This was followed by the ubiquitous complaints which she wasproud to explain, "This school doesn't mess around when it comes to thoserules, we protect our students. Many have been expelled for violating. Her eyes filled with tears. "It still hurts."He caressed her back, reached down and smoothed his hand across her sore bottom. "I'm sure the pain will go away after awhile," he said softly. "When I get home from work, I need to finish repairing that old truck. It's getting cold out and we need to get some windows on this house before winter hits. That old Torino isn't good for hauling things."She clung to him, "Please don't ever threaten to throw me out again." She looked up at him with pleading. I get out of my car and we meander around the parking lot, neither of us sure exactly what we should be doing, only what we want to be doing. You grab my hand and take me back to your car.I get in and you say, let’s go for a drive. You start the car and we leave our meeting place. Even though I grew up in this town, I have no idea where we are going. You reach for my hand. I take yours and give it a gentle squeeze. Your touch makes me feel like I can conquer the world and anything it decides to.