" He works for a software company," his mother said. "They're based on the West Coast." Let's go r a walk around the block," Kevin said. "I do have a ...question."They'd reached the end of the block and were making the turn when Kevin finally aired the worry he had been hiding."Mom hasn't been ... well. I'm not sure she's accepting hat Traci is gone." Have you?"Kevin nodded. "Mom didn't go to see her at the funeral home. I did. Cheri got her to the funeral, but it was like the whole thing was a. .. said, "daddy has the safety deposit vault from the bank." The boxes?" Nope, the whole damn thing. His daddy bought it when they tore down the bank building." You're kidding." Nope, he's got the main vault too." Does he have the keys?" Yes." She dithered a bit and then confessed, "they're not numbered. They were but someone took off the number disks. We have those too." How many boxes?" A thousand ... almost." How almost?" Nine hundred and ninety nine." Jezebel blushed, "two keys per box."Oh. You’re going to experience a lot of things tonight, but I doubt arousal will be one of them.” There was no mirror but I was sure my face was totally drained of color. My expression must have told Mona that I was close to panic. Mona stood up and put her arm around my shoulder. “It will be okay, Ishy. You’re going to get through it and when it’s done the relief you feel, the fulfillment, will be palpable. And I know you can do it. I knew it the first time I saw you in the cafeteria.” Where the. More like a victim!Thank Godfor Vida, though. She wasdelightful. Warm, friendly, good-humoured, witty anda fabulous raconteur. If ithadn?t been for Vida, I?m sure I would have left early. As it was, I was ableto tell myself that since I wasn?t interested in playing office politics, theywould soon lose interest in me. Vida plied me with drinks far more swiftly thanI was used to drinking, and kept me involved in the banter that flowed back andforth.It wasn?tlong before I was well on the way to.