The hard ground now felt spongy. Kevin had to alter his stride to keep balanced."The ground feels different," he huffed.Amanda nodded but didn't slow ...down. "This is virgin prairie. It's never been tilled. It has never been built on. This land has been undisturbed since the last ice age. You're walking on layer upon layer of dead plants." Wow," was all he could think to reply."Two hundred years ago, all soil was like this. From Texas to Canada, the Rockies to the Mississippi. When the Europeans. "I hope not," said John.At school the following Monday, Robert was apologetic about his parents."I'm sorry my parents were arguing," he sighed. "They've been doing itthe past few weeks and they don't seem to want to stop." But they said sorry to me," said Michael."They've said sorry to me and Tina, but they still shout at each other."Michael didn't talk any further about the subject, which pleased Robert.Yet, he felt sorry for his friend.The day went as usual, with break times spent monitoring. When I tested as a genius on four different IQ tests, they just took it as a confirmation of my destiny. As soon as I could comprehend it, cellular biology with an emphasis on reproduction became my new obsession. At least according to my mom.To be honest, I could have cared less. What does a nine-year old understand about sperm, eggs, vaginal secretion viscosity, etc. Heck, by the time I was twelve and actually became interested in girls, I knew more about their bodies than most of them ever. It was a real warm night and we were at some poxy club when Ireally spun out. I don't know what it was. I'd had one spliff earlier inthe day and was fine but the one at the club fuckin' wiped me out eventhough it was mostly leaf.So we had to get outta there. The girls we were talkin' too musta thoughtI was schitz because one minute we're passing the spliff n' the next I'mgrabbin' Van to tell him I gotta get some air.So he follows me out and I damn well projectile vomited between two cars -I.