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I ran into Steve a couple of days ago He was real surprised to seetime

I was sitting on the beach and he come up to me and said, "Rusty-James?"

I said, "Yeah?" because I didn't recognize hiht off My memory's screwed up some

"It's me," he said "It's Steve Hays"

Then I re sand off "Hey, yeah"

"What are you doing here?" he kept saying, looking at me like he couldn't believe it

"I live here," I said "What are you doin' here?"

"I'e here"

"Yeah?" I said "What you goin' to college for?"

"I'h school, probably I can't believe it! I never thought I'd see you again And here of all places!"

I figured I had asway froet excited over the weirdest things I wondered why I wasn't glad to see him

"You're goin' to be a teacher, huh?" I said It figured He was always reading and stuff

"What do you do here?" he asked

"Nothin' Bu around is a real popular profession here You could paint, write, barkeep, or bu once and didn't much like it

"Lord, Rusty-Ja has it been now?"

I thought for a minute and said, "Five or six years" Math ain't never beenpoint

"How did you get here?" He just couldn't seeet over it

"Me and a friend of uy I met in the reforot out We been here awhile"

"No kidding?" Steve hadn't changed much He looked about the same, except for theto a Halloween party But a lot of people are growing moustaches these days I never went in for them myself

"How long were you in for?" he asked "I never found out We ht after"

"Five years," I said I can't remember much about it Like I said,to res But if I'm left alone I don't sees back the refor it either

"They put me in solitary once," I said, because Steve see

He looked at ely and said, "Oh? I'm sorry"

He was staring at a scar that runs down et tan, either

"I got that in a knife fight," I told hio"

"I knoas there"

"Yeah," I said, "you were"

For a second I relanced away for a second I could tell he was trying not to look for the other scars They're not real noticeable, but they're not that hard to see either, if you knohere to look

"Hey," he said, too sudden, like he was trying to change the subject "I want you to irl friend She won't believe it I haven't seen you since ere thirteen? Fourteen? I don't know though"--he gaveand half serious--"you leave other guys' chicks alone?"

"Yeah," I said "I got a girl"

"Or two, or three?"

"Just one," I said I like to keep things sih

"Let's ood old days Man, I have come so far since then"

I didn't stop hih I didn't ood old days I didn't even remember them

"Rusty-Jaave ht I'd flipped out You knoho I thought you were for a second?"

My stomach clenched itself into a fist, and an old fear started creeping up my backbone

"You knoho you look just like?"