It must have been Mom who put the new one in his hand, which he managedto not drop, but gulped at like he really needed some alcohol right now.He turn...ed to us. "Uh, what's going on here?" I'm not terribly sure," said my mom, "But there's somebody I'd like youto meet. James, this is your daughter Jamie..." Hi," I said, feeling very shy. I really didn't want him to hate me forthis."Okay, what's the gag? Is that supposed to be Jimmy?" he asked.Apparently the magic beer trick hadn't convinced him. "And you know I have long hair. I'm trying to decide whether you deserve to see it again." I decided begging couldn't hurt. "Janine, may I please see your long hair?" I pleaded. She sat down at the antique dressing table across the room, her back to me, and removed a few hairpins. A long ponytail, starting at the top of her head, fell down past the chair seat. "It's so long," I stammered. "Just wait," she said. "Do you keep it hidden because of the men?" I asked. "Partly," she said. "It always. From her current position not even the city could be seen, making her headlights the brightest light source in miles. A flick of a switch later she was shrouded in darkness, the slight windchill on her face teasing her mind with a sense of fear she had never quite managed to overcome. Instead, she had learned to embrace it, to enjoy the rush it brought to her body and mind in the relative safety of solitude.Helen leaned against her saddle, staring out into the darkness and waiting for boredom. There was a white pattern, like little squares and it had white buttons all the way down the front. I know you’re going to ask what size the buttons were, they were big, about one inch in diameter. Oh, the material was silky but not silk. What did I miss?” ‘Nothing,’ I thought. I had missed nothing about the dress because I knew it like one of my shirts. She wore it that often. She wore it because of the silky feel against her skin. She wore it because there were 13 buttons that often tried my.