"You didn't shave this morning, did you Justie?" No, I was running late, I didn't even have time to ..." I stop in mid-sentence."To change out of your... velvety panties? Well, you were in a hurry,weren't you? I don't mean to change out of the velvet panties; I bet youwere glad to keep those on. I mean you were in such a rush to yourappointment, you left that horrid man stubble on your face."Mom continues on, "By the time we board the plane, you'll be past 5o'clock shadow. You'll have man fuzz. I lost the ability to become erect for her and that sparked the end of our relationship. I was on my own again and racked with depression and guilt becoming more determined to purge any of these desires from my life. Time went on and I had more or less gotten back to some normalcy when one evening I rode past a hardware store that was having a sale and decided I would stop in and pick up some tools and supplies for home repairs. I got in the check out line behind a guy, the kind you expect to. Now they all business. No alcohol for them tonight. Somehow we could sense that a line had been crossed. Before, they had taken it seriously but not felt we were in any real danger, not mortal danger at any rate. All that had changed. The word 'operational' popped into my head. We were now 'operational.'I took the dogs outside for a last pee before turning in. The sky was crystal clear, a halo hung around the moon that was just a couple of days off being new. Ice particles in the atmosphere. Just as quickly as her anger had flashed, her demeanor changed again and her voice was softer. "I don't know how much time we're going to have to live in the same house together and summer is coming up and I'll be here alot more than I am now. Tell ya what, I'm sorry for what I said, but ya know, we're both gonna be in this house together and maybe...I mean, would it be so hard to try to get along?" Darrin turned away from her for a moment. Oh, he knew she was right, but he wasn't ready, not.