"She had a point. Girls at our school who were gay were always shunned, or forced to live with their natural ambitions in agonizing silence. I had a f...w times wondered if Cindi was this way, but being so wrapped up in the day to day events of a teenager superseded those significant matters of the heart. I felt so bad for my dear friend... How did I ever not see this? Why didn't I look for this, or better yet; why didn't I follow up that night with another time where we both could express. She felt a sharp pain in her lower back and a dry taste in her mouth as if something had burned close by. The smell of exhaust and gasoline hung in the air as did that of burnt ozone.The pain turned out to be a foot on which she was lying, and finally bringing her eyesight into focus Erin wished she could have just slept a little longer. The scene that slowly swam into view was from another world. The mossy cave was still there, as were the horses and their knights, although none of them were. We couldn’t get time alone and if we did we couldn’t do anything . So texting one day I relented “ I will do anything to spend some alone time with you “ She relented . “ how about a hotel no interruptions?” I asked . “ who would pay ?” “ I would “ . So we agreed on a day . I met her outside and we didn’t hug , it was a sign we were heading south in the relationship . She had a duffle bag with her , we checked into a double room . In my city centre , she was dressed in jeans a hoodie and looked. Mr. Clifton smiled as he thought of the easy money he and the others had made. He alone made six hundred and the sheriff, Mayor Dean, Mr. Miller and Bud had all made five hundred each.Yes Sir, a good day it was at the races.Friday before the bank closed for the day, Tom withdrew seven hundred dollars and put in his saddle bags. He told Mr. Clifton to keep the rest put up for him, “I’ll be back this way one day and I hope you’ll still have my money for me.”“Tom you can count on it, I’ll keep it.