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Grizzie had forcedmy ability to make one He’d taken the car to Covelli’s to get it serviced, which I knew entailed hi the shit

I had taken lasagna out of the freezer thatand had put it in the oven to bake for one downstairs to check on it when I heard our rattling old car pull up our long drive Dad caave me a kiss on the cheek

"You’re ho my lack of work uniforo at four," I said, busyingto see if it was cooked through It needed about another fifteen minutes so I put it back in the oven

"Soe ca to dinner To catch up," I finished, lahtly confused I’d done a part-tiree at the University of Maine in Machias, which was about an hour and a half away I’d commuted two days a week because I couldn’t afford to live on campus Not that I would have wanted to, anyway For about teeks I’d been anonymous, until so had started Of course, it was nowhere near as bad as it had been in Rockabill for the years after my little "accident," but it still wasn’t pleasant I felt labeled, and as such I never really tried to reat--despite the fact thatlike "keep an eye on this one topostal"--and there’d been a few girls ho for coffee or lunch But I had to be careful not to get close enough that they were co about what had happened to me I certainly couldn’t tell them the truth, and I refused to lie, so I had to keep my distance Therefore I never made any real friends at the university--the story of htly taken aback

"Well, I’, and that you’re seeing a friend froreeo out lasses that had found their way into the sink, unable to look at my dad I couldn’t believe he didn’t think it odd that I’d never talked about anyone fro that somebody had shown up in Rockabill, of all places? I wondered if I had soht about my dad’s reaction and what Ryu had said about hulamour to make s, I thought, angrily scrubbing at an already clean glass

I realized what I was doing and forcedboard I got ed a s at the kitchen table, watching ht," I answered hio out more"

He knew better than to push the subject "So, who’s your friend?"

"His name is Ryu," I said

"Oh, it’s a leefully I blushed

"Yes, a man Froa-roo?"

"Yeah, I guess I’m not sure how it’s spelled, actually"

"Neat Is it a fa it is" If by "fahticus

Speaking of faht What is Ryu, anyway?

"What does he do?" said ator"

"Oh, okay With the police?"

"I’ht be private A private investigator," I finished, la"

"I think it ed and I nearly leapt over to the oven door Our conversation was getting decidedly aard I knew suspiciously little about this good friend ofthe foil off of the top of the lasagna and turning up the oven to let it brown I set the ti the opportunity to change the subject

"Oh, fine," my dad said, and then he rattled off to me what he and Joe had talked about that afternoon, and what Joe had said about our old car

I sethina was done, and I served hina--and sat at the table with him while he ate As usual, I told hiht of her as some sort of exotic bird and he loved to hear about her ever-changing plu dinner when our doorbell rang