‘That’s a ridiculous statement not based on a single fact,’ I said. ‘I suspect Carrie would have completed her mission whether Lucy was part of the scenario or not.’

‘I tell you’ - he blew smoke toward his slightly opened window - ‘queers are ruining this planet.’

‘God help us,’ I said with disgust. ‘You sound like my sister.’

‘I think you need to send Lucy someplace. Get her some help.’

‘Marino, you simply must stop this. Your opinions are based on ignorance. They are hateful. If my niece prefers women instead of men, please tell me why that is so threatening to you.’

‘It don’t threaten me in the least. It’s just unnatural.’ He tossed the cigarette butt out the window, a tiny missile extinguished by the night. ‘But hey, it’s not that I don’t understand it. It’s a known fact that a lot of women go for each other because it’s the best they can do.’

‘I see,’ I said. ‘A known fact.’ I paused. ‘So tell me, would that be the case with Lucy and Janet?’

‘That’s why I recommend them getting help, because there’s hope. They could get guys easy. Especially Janet could with the way she’s built. If I wasn’t so tied up, I’d have half a mind to ask her out.’

‘Marino,’ I said, and he was making me tired, ‘leave them alone. You’re just setting yourself up to be disliked and snubbed. You’re setting yourself up to look like a damn fool. The Janets of the world are not going to date you.’

‘Her loss. If she had the right experience, it might straighten her out. What women do with each other’s not what I consider the real thing. They have no idea what they’re missing.’

The thought that Marino might consider himself an expert on what women needed in bed was so absurd that I forgot to be annoyed. I laughed.

‘I feel protective of Lucy, okay?’ he went on. ‘I sort of feel like an uncle, and see, the problem is she’s never been around men. Her dad died. You’re divorced. She’s got no brothers and her mother is in and out of bed with goofballs.’

‘That much is true,’ I said. ‘I wish Lucy could have had a positive male influence.’

‘I guarantee if she had she wouldn’t have turned out queer.’

‘That’s not a kind word,’ I said. ‘And we really don’t know why people turn out the way they do.’

‘Then you tell me.’ He glanced my way. ‘You explain what went wrong.’

‘In the first place, I’m not going to say that anything went wrong. There may be a genetic component to one’s sexual orientation. Maybe there isn’t. But what’s important is that it doesn’t matter.’

‘So you don’t care.’