But there was one thing about Billy he could never explain. Del knew he was much stronger than Billy; time and again they would arm-wrestle, and there was just no question in his mind that Billy was no match for him. But one evening when Del challenged him to an arm-wrestling match, he was astonished when Billy put him down.

“Let’s do it again,” Del insisted. “But this time let’d do it right-handed.”

Billy put him down again without saying a word, then got up to leave.

“Big strong guy like you ought to be out working,” Del said. “When are you gonna get yourself a job?”

Billy looked at him, confused, and said he had been looking for work.

“You’re a liar,” Del shouted. “If you really was serious about getting work, you would. ”

The argument went on for over an hour. Finally, Billy grabbed his clothes and most of his stuff and stormed out of the house.

(2)

Bev Thomas was now living with Steve Love, who had been evicted from his own trailer. When Bev heard about Billy’s hassles at home, she invited him to move in with them. Billy checked with his parole officer and got the okay.

Bev enjoyed living with two men. No one would believe there was nothing sexual going on, that they were just three best friends who went everywhere together, did everything together and had more fun together than she’d ever had before.

Billy was great with Michelle and Brian. He always took them swimming, or got ice cream for them, or took them to the zoo. He cared about those kids as if they were his own. And Bev was impressed that when she came home from work, he’d have the place cleaned up, all except the dishes. He never did the dishes.

Sometimes he acted so feminine that she and Steve wondered if he was gay. Often Bev and Billy would sleep in the same bed, but he never touched her. When she asked him about it one day, he told her he was impotent.

It didn’t matter to her. She cared about him. And she loved the things they all did together, like going to Burr Oak Lodge for three days, camping out and spending fifty dollars on junk food. Or hiking through the woods at Clear Creek in the middle of the night, Billy holding the one flashlight and playing James Bond, trying to find secret caches of marijuana. It was fun the way he would talk with his British accent, giving the Latin names of all the plants. It was all madness, the things they did together, but Bev felt free and happy for the first time in a long time with these two wonderful guys.

One day Bev came home to discover that Billy had painted his green VW black with crazy silver patterns.

“No other VW in the world is like this now,” he said.

“But why, Billy?” Bev and Steve both asked.