They liked the idea of a high school kid they could flirt with, but the Marine version scared them." Hell," Ed said. "You did shoot up two inches and ...ained what, fifty pounds of muscle?" Not hardly. I'm barely thirty pounds over what I weighed in high school. What about you?" Me?" You got a nice beer gut started, Ed." Shit," Ed rubbed the belly in question. "Amy likes it. Keeps her warm."They were still laughing when Ed's phone rang. He showed the incoming caller's photo to Scott.Scott used. ” She hung up. I went. Drove fast. I went to the door. A hand slid under my arm.“You’re paid for.” We went inside. People everywhere. Music vibrated the floor. My guts churned and shook. I followed. She held my hand. We stepped round people. Women in their best- wearing little. Breasts displayed. Men with shirts unbuttoned. They moved as one. The beat galvanized. She pulled my hand. So many people. Strobe lights flashed. I saw snippets of dancing. People so close. A small stair case, I. ”“Well, then. Give the health service ten thousand in memory of Rowena Scott Hollister.”“Really?”“Didn’t mom treat Jimmy? Didn’t mom teach bush medicine? Wasn’t mom nungungi?”“Right. Thank you. Sometimes you really are nungungi.”“You took me out to Charleville and to meet my python.”“True.”“Call me again in a few days. Wherever you decide to go.”“Right. Love to Rachel.”“Of course.”I left the Billabong quite early and walked over to watch the river. And to think about all the rivers flowing. He went home with one girl and almost had sex with her but called it off. He knew they really didn’t click and it would only make things awkward at work. She was cool about it, even respected him for it.At first, Zach made a point to call home once a week or so, but that effort soon eroded as he became busier. So his mother would call him to make sure he was still alive. Sunday evenings seemed to be the best times to connect on the phone.Four months later, he was talking to his mother and she.