“No,” | answered, “I don't smoke any cigarettes.” “| guess | caught you with your pants down, didn't I?”
He picked up the phone and dialed a number. He was calling her mother. “l found him,” he said. “What should | do, throw ‘im out the window?" | was scared that he might actually do it. He hung up the phone and | didn't know what to expect. | thought, How could a realist have gotten himself into such an unrealistic situation?
We proceeded to have a discussion.
“| got the horns," he yelled. “Il gotta do something! It ain't manlyf
“Look, restraint itself can be a form of manliness.”
“You know,” he said, “Il could arrange to have you killed while | was having dinner with your mother and father.”
“Well, actually, they're not having too many people over to the house these days.”
His low chuckle in response to that wisecrack marked a positive turning point in our conversation. He finally forgave me, and we shook hands. Then he borrowed twenty dollars, which we both knew | would
never get back, but it was worth not being thrown out the window. | had
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