A microwave whirred. Working at the white-topped center island, Karen nudged the crust into the corners of the pie pan. She wore a baggy SUNY-Stony Br...ook jogging suit – “my cooking clothes,” she called them. Stepping behind her, Mike tried to focus on the pie pan. They’d been working for hours. Like, enough housework, he thought. “Nice pie crust,” he said, wondering what Karen wanted to hear. Holiday preparations, he knew, were always a big deal for women, so he wanted to say and do the right. Endeavor is a typical small-town with a broad tree-lined avenue at its center. The north half of the town’s central artery is simply known as Main Street. The piece to the south of Elm Street is called College Boulevard. The road ends at the impressive main gate of Ballmon, which forms the entire southern boundary of the town. The remaining roads appear as a small grid-work placed amidst the patch quilt fields of the surrounding farms when viewed from above. Along College Boulevard and the. Leaving the courtyard with Steve at my side, I turned on the power again and we laughed at the comments we overheard as we went back to our room to shower and clean-up for dinner. Dinner that night was as informal as the previous two nights were formal with the food being more classical with a few native dishes included which I appreciated. At dinner I was also introduced to the woman I had fought, that turned out to be the great-granddaughter of Master Sung, who was the master of ceremonies. I sat and thought about how close she and Jimmy were and hoped they would always be that way. Those two shared a love for music like no others I had ever met before and they complimented each other when they played the music they both loved. I got on the cell and made a call to Floyd and we talked for about an hour, making some arrangements and getting a few things straightened out. All of our things he was holding for us would be sent out immediately to the package holding company that I had.