It had no function or beauty, but it still felt powerful when you touched it.

"It makes me sympathize with him," said a nurse. "He could have anybody he wanted, and he picks these kinds of girls. Like, they're not models, they're not stars."

It ran out of his nostrils sometimes, but mostly they heard it, rattling in his lungs. He couldn't eat anything, and he didn't talk much.

. If anyone said "ugly cunt" to her sister or her mother, Laura would hit him. She would hit anyone who said it to her friend Danielle. Well, she didn't really mean it when she said it

a doll made of rubber, exible and resilient, aprop for the movie that was playing in his head.

how she sometimes worriedthat she wasn’t smart enough to form her own opinions on anything.

He kissed the top of her head,

“Glad to see

thehighway, it occurred to her that he could take her someplace and rape and murder her;she hardly knew anything about him, after all

so it was up toher to re-initiate the conversation, which she always did.

I smelledlike salmon

He wasbeautiful and scarred. So much brownskin marked with bruises, badly healedwounds, and tattoos. His long blackhair was unbraided and hung down to his thin waist. My slacks and dressshirt were carefully folded and drapedover the chair near the window. Myshoes were sitting on the table. Bluelight filled the room.