“Yes,” Tanya admitted, personally glad to have something to talk about. “I was hurt in an accident, and Béla donated some of her blood. It cure...d me, but now I can expect to live several hundred more years. Frank shares his life with me.”“I understand,” Beth admitted. ‘Lifemates. Companions.’ Beth decided to explain her relationship with her sister to Tanya. After all, Tanya did ask how she felt about all this intimacy.“Béla is my… sister,” she began, sounding lame. “We were created by the. I am less than impressed with people who say that they love and trust their children, yet still keep their own little secrets.Our family has enough secrets from the outside world so inside we have none. Junior is on a need to know basis, but up to the moment, he has proven trustworthy and reliable. Bob loves Tilly; to iterate that, Bob does love Tilly, and she does literally, know where all the bodies are buried. He also told her to get Junior to climb to the fo'c's'le with Mr Wu, to watch. I should have gotten expelled from college last year for the Internet paper. Because of Burnside I’m still here. Then I should have been fired for not grading all the term papers last fall. Instead, all I got was a sore ass. She won’t be nice to Wendy in the normal way. I hate to think of everything she must be going through right now. But Burnside cares about Wendy, just like she cares about me. She’ll do what she thinks is best for Wendy. Remember something else. Burnside made her wait six. There was a rasp and a flame sprang up. A lighter touched the end of a cigarette and then snapped shut before being tossed on the desk beside the ashtray. There was a snort from behind the desk."A dame. Every time I think it can't get any worse, a dame walks in my door. And then it always does."Her eyes returned to the shoes. They led to a pair of crossed ankles, covered in black socks. After that was a pair of unpressed slacks, a white shirt with the sleeves rolled up and a tie that was pulled.