"Do you love me?" "Hell, no," I said. I hate your lovely guts. Good God, talk about chastity belts. Where's the key to this thing?" There were only the two of us in the world, talking breathlessly to bridge the awkward but necessary pause between promise and fulfillment. The the roof of our private paradise fell in, the floor buckled, and the walls collapsed, leaving us exposed and unprotected, two rumpled strangers on a rumpled bed. What I mean is, somebody knocked on the door. "Mummy," said a hesitant voice outside. "Mummy, are you in there? Mr. Clevenger, do you know where my Mummy is?"

1964.