Chapter 21: Track Five and Velcro

Sunday, July 19, 2009, 6:00 AM

Annie rolled into her bedroom and closed the door behind her, leaving Tricia and Joey in a stunned silence. It was all because Joey had just asked if he could sleep with Annie, and Annie had said ‘No’.

He looked down to the floor. Shame crept over his face. “I’m sorry...” he started. “I ... I don’t know ... What just happened?” he asked Tricia in horror.

Tricia waved to him, not taking her eyes off the hallway where she last saw her roommate. “You did nothing wrong.”

“But ... is she angry at me?”

She gave him a reassuring look. “No. I don’t think she’s angry with you.” She reached out, took him by the hand, and led him to her room. “Joey, why don’t you go to bed. I’ll be over in a minute. I just want to talk to her.”

“Is she okay?”

“I’m sure she’s just tired, that’s all.” She guided him to her bed. “You get some rest.”

He sat on the bed, worried and scared. “Tell her I’m sorry.”

Tricia patted his shoulder. “I’ll take care of her. Go to sleep, and I’ll be back soon.”

She left him in her room and closed the door, and then went to Annie’s room. She knocked on her door. “Annie? I’m coming in.” There was no response, and she opened the door and stepped in.

Annie sat in her chair, her arms folded across her stomach, and she looked sullen and depressed. Tricia closed the door and glared at her.

“Annie, what the hell was that out there?”

“What did it look like to you?” she answered gloomily.

“He was trying to reach out to you, trying to open up, as you encouraged him to do. And you slapped him away.”

Annie turned away from Tricia.

“You hurt his feelings! He’s sitting in my room now wondering what he did to hurt you. Now what is it? Are you angry at him?”

She shook her head. “I’m sorry for hurting him. And no.”

“You’re angry because of him? Because of the promise I made you make. No flying, that’s it?”

Annie squeezed her eyes shut and shook her head again. “No. It’s not that.”

“It looks like that to me. Annie, if you’re going to get angry at anyone for that, get angry at me! I can take it. But Joey can’t. It’s your rule! We don’t hurt him.”

“That’s not it!” Annie rasped. She was tearing up.

Tricia came closer to her and knelt on the floor next to her friend. “If that’s not it, then what is it? What’s the problem?” She reached out and caressed Annie’s hand. “It’s me, isn’t it?”

Annie gave Tricia a brief look of disgust, and shook her head.

“Look, if you’re worried about open relationships, about me being jealous, I already told you how I feel. I don’t get jealous. And you two have something special. You need to explore it. He loves you, Annie. And you love him too. That’s the only way he could have made you fly in the first place.”

Annie wiped her eyes and shook her head again. “That’s not it.”

“Then what is it? You’re worried about where you fit in the relationships? Well, so does he. He doesn’t know where you fit in with him and he fits in with you. And all he wanted to do was...”

“You think I don’t know what it is he wanted?” she barked, glaring at Tricia. “I know exactly what he wanted!”

Tricia raised an eyebrow. “Oh ... So that’s it. You’re not ready to take it to that level, and you don’t want to have to tell him ‘No’ while you’re in bed together, is that it?”

Annie huffed and rolled away to her dresser. Tricia stood up. “Look Annie, I can tell you that, although he gets eager, he’ll listen to you and he’ll respect your wishes. You don’t have to worry about him.”

“I’m not worried about telling him ‘No’.”

Tricia cocked her head. “So if you’re not worried about telling him ‘No’, then what are you worried about?” She paused for a second. “Oh I get it ... You’re worried that you will say ‘Yes’, is that it?”

Annie shot a fearful look at her.

Tricia nodded. “Yeah, that’s it. You do want him. So what’s the problem? Is it his age? Is that it? You’re the one who told me he’s not too young to be interested.”

She shook her head, crying. “No, that’s not it.”

“Well he wants you. And if I’m not the problem, and if he’s not the problem, then who IS the problem?”

Annie screeched at her. “TRICIA! LOOK AT ME!” Her face scrunched up in pain, and tears rolled down from her eyes.

Tricia looked at her friend, sitting there in her wheelchair. “Oh. I see. It’s the paralysis.” She nodded. “So, you’re finally pulling the poor little crippled girl routine. No, not a chance! Not with me.” Tricia knelt down next to her, took her hand, and squeezed it hard. “Remember that first day we met? You laid down the law. No pity for you. Well, I’ve lived up to that. You haven’t gotten any pity from me, and you’re not going to. And guess what? You make it easy. Do you have any idea how often I find myself wishing I could be more like you?”

Annie chuckled through her tears, and shook her head.

Tricia continued. “You’re strong, and you’re smart. You’re kind, and you’re beautiful. You’re the total package, you know that? These are the things Joey loves about you. You know he doesn’t care about the chair.”

She nodded, wiping her tears. “I know ... It’s just that...” She shuddered. “I can’t just ... jump into bed with a guy. I’m not like you.”

“What is it? You WANT to be more like me?”

She flustered. “Yes ... No ... Kind of ... I just...” She sniffed. “I want this, but I don’t know what’s going to happen.”

“So what’s the worst that can happen?”

She teared up. “He’ll get on top of me ... And he’ll push here...” She touched her abdomen. “ ... and I’ll...”

Tricia nodded. “Piss all over him. I understand.”

Annie sniffed again and wiped her eyes. “I want this, but I want it to be special. And I don’t want to have to worry about what all my body is going to do. What it looks like down there. Whether I cleaned everything...”

Tricia squeezed her hand. “You want to be ready. And perfect for him.” She chuckled. “You’re such a romantic. I’ve never been the romantic type.” She smiled and looked at herself. “We’re so different, you and me. I’m still wearing an outfit that a demon tried to bite through. I’ve got dried demon spit and tooth holes in my clothes, and I’m still wearing it. But you get dribbled on, and you have to get a complete change of clothes. You’re so meticulous, and we both love you for it.”

Annie smiled and laughed. “It looks good on you. It’s like a grunge, just-got-attacked-by-a-monster-and-still-look-fabulous look.”

Tricia chuckled. “What do you need?”

“Time,” she answered. “I need time to ... get ready. And I need ... help.”

Tricia nodded and reached over to Annie’s chair-purse. She pulled out her cell phone and handed it to her. “Here. Call Sven. Splurge. Take the time.”

“But...”

“What else are you doing today?” Tricia grinned at her friend. “Do it. Call him. Take as much time as you need. And I’ll explain things to Joey, and I’ll keep him busy while you’re doing your thing, and then you can have the rest of the evening alone with him.”

Annie smiled and nodded. “Thanks.” She reached out to Tricia, and they hugged each other.

“I’ll even keep him fresh for you,” said Tricia in the hug.

Annie laughed, and buried her face in her hands. “Oy vey! ... What am I doing, Tricia?” She peeked through her hand at her friend. “I’ve never done this before.”

“What? You’ve been with guys before.”

She nodded. “Yeah, but ... it’s always been exclusive. I’ve never shared a guy before.” She looked embarrassed.

Tricia smiled. “I’ve always been with guys with other women. I’m used to it.” She paused. “But you know, this is different for me.” She held Annie’s hands. “This is the first time the other woman was someone I actually cared about.”

Annie blushed. She thought for a moment. “Of course, if I do this with Joey, what happens next?”

Tricia cocked her head. “What do you mean?”

“Well, who does he sleep with?”

She chuckled. “I suppose we could alternate. I’m sure he would enjoy that.”

Annie giggled into her hands. “Oy! Oh! ... But you know what’s going to happen!”

“What?”

“Him, sleeping with both of us ... You know he’s going to want both of us at the same time sometime!”

Tricia’s jaw dropped, and she considered the idea. “Well...” She laughed. “Look at us! Who could blame him for wanting that?”

Annie stared at her. “Are you seriously considering it? What are we going to do then?”

“Annie, we don’t have to do anything we don’t want to do. The only thing that absolutely HAS to happen is I have to have sex with him so he can push me through time. But when it comes to you, it’s all about what you want.”

Annie squinted at Tricia. “So you’re saying ... it’s all up to me.”

Tricia nodded. “Yeah.”

“So ... you’re NOT saying you’re against the idea.”

“Hmm?”

“Tricia, you didn’t say you were against the idea of a threesome.”

Tricia squinted back. “Neither did you.”

Annie opened her mouth to protest, but stopped, realizing that it was true. She buried her face in her hands in embarrassment again. “OY! Khas ve-shoolem! I...” She burst out in a nervous fit of laughing. “I’ve never done that! I’m a good Jewish girl! I don’t do the freaky stuff!”

Tricia giggled and patted Annie’s hand. “I haven’t done that either. But we don’t have to worry about that now. Right now is all about you and Joey. You two deserve a night together, and I think you should take it. Call Sven! And you can have him the whole night to yourself. I’ll crash somewhere else for the night.”

A couple minutes later, Tricia returned to her room, and found Joey still sitting on the bed looking worried. “Is she okay?” he immediately asked.

She closed the door. “She’s fine.” She took off her shoes and climbed on the bed with him. “She’s sorry that she hurt your feelings. She just needs some time, that’s all.” She gently coaxed him to lie down on the bed.

Joey lay back, looking slightly relieved, but still scared. Tricia cuddled up to him. “Let’s get some sleep,” she said. “I’ll explain everything to you later on.”

The earth had been shaking for hours.

The Chamber of Digestion, a fetid pit filled with blood, bones, rotted flesh, shit, piss, ejaculate, drool, and a host of abominable creatures crawling through it all shook as the rock thundered. The demons within it screeched and scrambled, and howled and slashed at each other as their panic grew. Something was coming. Something dangerous.

The rumbling and booming turned into a deafening roar, and the ceiling glowed with heat. A sudden explosion ripped the ceiling apart, and a hole opened, conjuring a brilliant shaft of light illuminating the dust and dirt. The demons screamed in agony as the blinding light burned their eyes, and many ran to the farthest corners of the pit, seeking shadows and holes to hide in.

A glowing figure descended into the pit. It was a humanoid form made of glass, plastic, and steel. It hovered over the ground, and was soon followed by a column of black smoke which formed the figure of a dark man of flesh dressed in a shadowy cloak.

The demons screamed and roared their challenges. DarkMyst scanned the shadow pit.

“An Inquisition of demons infests this cavern. This abominable place must be scoured,” said the dark sorcerer.

“Status.switch(Combat);” replied the Hyperion.

The horde charged the intruders, their eyes locked on the twin prizes of fresh meat and a clear path to the outside, and their fangs dripping with saliva, blood, and fresh flesh. DarkMyst threw his arms wide open, and two tendrils of black smoke erupted and solidified, forming twin barbed scimitars. He threw the sharpened weapons into the multitude, and the swords became alive and deadly, spinning and slashing into the creatures, cleaving through them as if they were made of smoke and spider web, beheading, disemboweling, amputating, and leaving a trail of spraying blood and flying body parts.

A barrage of emerald lasers erupted from the Hyperion, cutting, blinding, searing, piercing, and razing the herd.

The demons screamed and gasped as they fell. They shrieked and roared. They charged. They scattered and scrambled. They hid. They feasted on their fallen brothers. But none could touch the two heroes. To approach was to die, to attack was to die. To hide was to be found and killed. Like twin gods of light and darkness, science and magic, fire and cold, reason and passion, earth and cloud, they passed their judgment on the horde, and slaughtered all under their gaze.

The razing took many minutes. Demons fell by the scores, and soon there was nothing but the faint sounds of dripping blood. DarkMyst waded into the pool of blood and flesh, and scanned the darkness. The Hyperion shielded the tunnel.

He extended his mystic senses. “Death. All.” He reached back and pointed towards the bright tunnel in the ceiling. A vaporous tendril emerged and clouded the opening, forming a solid plug which sealed the tunnel, and plunged the pit back into darkness illuminated only by the faint glowing from the Hyperion. “If there are others in the complex, they will not escape through here.” He turned and continued wading through the muck towards another tunnel exit. “We hunt for her body now.”

The Hyperion hovered behind him, following silently.

The collapsed tunnels were filled with rocks and boulders, and that which could not be swept away with solid mists and forcefields where sliced apart with lasers. They made their way through the erratic passageways, digging and channeling through the debris.

They penetrated the Chamber of Labors. It was destroyed and buried. DarkMyst extended his mind and searched. The Hyperion extended a hand. The hand glowed, and debris shifted nearby.

Nails, once scattered in the rocks, now flew up into the air, attracted by the magnetic pulse. They gathered on the Hyperion’s hand. The android took one and let the others fall. “Analysis(subject) returns {"nail", "iron", "cobalt", "electrogalvanized", "ferromagnetic"}; Correlation(“Quantum Knight”, “ammunition”) returns true;”

“Then this is the place they fought.” DarkMyst searched the shadows. “So where is her bo...”

The fiery concussive explosion came out of nowhere, and it threw DarkMyst across the cavern. He hit the rocks hard, and his skull knocked against the wall, rendering him dizzy. The Hyperion spun and tumbled and smashed against the far wall.

Desdemona dropped out of the shadows, hissing, spitting, and crouched on the floor. She considered her two opponents. The Hyperion was her greatest threat, and the sorcerer was still stunned. Her talons extended, and she leaped onto the metal figure. She slashed, clawed, and penetrated the skin and circuitry, burrowing her talons into the hero’s chest. Sparks and light flashed as the Hyperion shook, and she tore the chest open, revealing a metallic understructure of circuits, wires, and framework.

The Hyperion lay still.

Desdemona turned and regarded the dark sorcerer. She extracted her claws from the hero and considered them. Small insects clung to her hand. She licked her hand, shuddered, and spat. “Some life forms are too foul, even for me.” There was a brief flare of fire, and her hand was clean; the insects were burned off.

DarkMyst rolled and tried to stand up. She was on him before he could look at her, and her raking attack send a spray of black blood into the air. She slashed, ripped, sliced, and hacked him as he feebly tried to summon the protective mists. With one hand she grabbed him by the neck, and the other she thrust directly into his chest, up under the ribs. He lurched and tried to scream, and his feet and legs started to turn to a swirling mist.

She thrust upward and grabbed his heart.

“Oh no!” she said, squeezing the sorcerer’s heart in her clawed hand. “You’re not turning to mist and escaping. Not while I have your heart.”

DarkMyst rasped and shook. The swirling smoke spun around them like a tornado, and much of his legs disappeared in the transformation. He held onto her arm and tried to push her off, but she held him fast.

“So, sorcerer ... You came looking to see if I was dead. You were wise to check, but foolish to come with so little assistance. Now my old home will become your tomb.” She squeezed his heart, puncturing it with her claws.

He groaned as the pain became excruciating.

“But as you die, die knowing this ... No power can kill me. I do not die. The most anyone can do is delay me. But I think I have found the one I have been searching for. One that can lead me to one powerful enough. The Omega Man. Did you know he is back from the dead?”

DarkMyst struggled. The dissolving mists whirled up higher, transforming his upper legs.

“When I find him, I will sacrifice him, and open a doorway to my home, the eighth circle. And then I will bring forth my mate! And when I have him, then I will finally be able to breed properly! My brood will take over this planet, and I will be its queen. And your EarthGuard will have failed.”

The sorcerer pushed his power. He struggled and quivered in agony, and much of his torso dissolved into the black swirling fog.

“Goodbye, DarkMyst.” She squeezed his heart, crushing it in her fist. DarkMyst screamed and evaporated into a cloud of vapor. She beat her wings, scattering the mist, and then turned to the tunnel entrance.

“To me, my pets!” she commanded.

A section of wall burst open, and the creatures peered out from the Chamber of Memory. She headed for the tunnel towards the Chamber of Digestion. The demons crawled and flapped and scattered about, following her. She crawled through the tunnel, making her way through the path created by her intruders, and entered the Chamber of Digestion.

She stretched out her wings and glided over the filthy pond of a floor, and landed at the far end. The sealed plug that DarkMyst placed was still there, and she sliced it down and open.

The room was bathed in bright sunlight again.

“How good of you to make an opening for me,” she said as she climbed up the vertical tunnel. Upward and onward she climbed, and then she emerged in the sandy desert of the Sahara. Her demon pets followed her faithfully and obediently. They screeched at the hot mid-day sun as the clambered out of the pit, and roared their challenges to the sky. Desdemona waited for them all to emerge, and looked north west with anticipation.

Dozens came out of the hole, scores of demons from the first and second circles. They were small things, the size of dogs, and they were stupid and nearly worthless, good only for dying. As the last demon emerged from the pit, she summoned the power within her and rose over the tunnel entrance. She lifted her arms, and a great fireball built between her hands. The wiser demons saw what was coming and scattered, but the young and foolish ones drew closer, eager to see what magic their mistress had in store.

She yelled and hurled the fireball towards the carved tunnel, and a massive explosion shook the earth, incinerating the young and foolish demons, and collapsing the tunnel. The entire ground shook and fell as chambers underneath collapsed and utterly crushed the two heroes trapped within.

She smiled as she watched the ground settle, and the sand pour down into the pit, erasing all traces of her home’s presence. Her wings beat slowly as she hovered, and she turned slowly and addressed her followers.

“We leave now. The journey will be long and hard and cold.” She thought back to her deep past. “Like Satan’s cock. I expect not all of you to survive flying over the ocean, so if you must succumb...” She gave them all a hard stare. “ ... have the decency to fall into the jaws of another, so that you are not wasted.”

The demon horde screamed and roared in their approval. Desdemona grinned and beat her wings, and headed north-west, and began her six-thousand mile journey to Washington D.C, followed by a flock of screeching and chattering demons.

After a good long nap, Tricia was feeling refreshed and alive again. She had changed her clothes into something without teeth-marks in it, but saved the bit-through shirt to show to friends, and possibly auction off on eBay. Annie was right. A T-shirt that had huge gaping fang-holes in it looked pretty cool. Maybe I’ll start a fashion trend. Couldn’t be any worse than acid-wash.

Her nap had taken her back to the Metro station again. She reflected on her latest dream. She couldn’t remember much of it. She did remember talking to another version of herself, telling her about Annie’s issues. A second version of herself arrived looking happy and mischievous, and with the simple message of “Let her count.” Let who count? Count what? She couldn’t remember. Most likely she wasn’t told.

She was putting on her boots when the doorbell rang. “Joey? Can you get that?” she called.

Joey was in the living room playing with the dog. He got up and answered the door. As he opened the door, he stood and stared at the man standing there. He was well over six feet tall, taller than Quantum Knight at her tallest. He was broad-shouldered, white, blond, well-muscled, with a chiseled chin, and was disturbingly gorgeous in his tight T-shirt and shorts. He carried a small gym bag. The man looked at Joey through steel-blue eyes and grinned.

“Ello? I am ‘ere far Miss Annie?”

His voice had a strange accent Joey could not place.

“Um ... Yeah. She’s here,” answered Joey cautiously. “Who are you?”

“Sven? Is that you?” Tricia came running up to the man. She gasped in pleasure as she saw him. “Oh! Sven! Please, come in!” She eagerly grabbed the hulking man by the arm and dragged him into the apartment. “It’s so good of you to come!”

“Ello, Miss Tricia,” he said politely.

“Oh, I can’t begin to tell you how good it is to see you!” Tricia gushed to the tall, blond, Swedish man. “Annie and I are SO glad you could make it!” She placed both of her hands on his broad and muscled pectorals. “It is SO good to see you again ... You and your ... big blue eyes...” She grimaced as she stared at the gorgeous man, and her fingers clawed at his tight T-shirt. “And your ... pecs! ... And those big strong arms!...” She shut her eyes and strained as she spoke, and leaned her head against his muscled chest, trying to gather strength, and she balled her fists and started pounding on his chest in frustration. “ ... And that tight butt! ... Washboard abs! ... Your perfect hair!... <gasp> Those muscled thighs!...” She pounded on him, and her voice got angrier. “You! ... Gorgeous! ... Hunk! ... Of Swedish! ... Beefcake! ... And so nice! ... And polite! ... And strong! ... And GAY!”

“Um ... Miss Tricia?”

Tricia screamed at him and grabbed him by the shirt. Her eyes were pleading and crazed. “WHY? PLEASE! LET ME MAKE A MAN OUT OF YOU! TRY A WOMAN FOR ONCE! COME TO OUR SIDE!”

“Miss Tricia, cood you lat go uf me?”

“I’ll make it worth your while!” she begged hysterically. “You’re too perfect to waste on men! We need you! Don’t you understand?”

Joey was watching all of this with an extremely dumbfounded look on his face. “Um ... Who is this guy?” he finally asked.

Annie emerged from her room and rolled into the hallway. She gave Joey a friendly smile, and then looked over at Sven. Her face lit up. “SVEN! AAAH!” she screamed.

“Ello, Miss Annie!” he said politely as Tricia was hanging onto his shirt. “I am ‘ere far you today.” He gestured to the buxom Hispanic woman clawing at his chest. “Cood you ‘elp me?”

“Tricia! Let go of him! Shoym! He’s mine today!”

Tricia pounded her head against his broad chest in frustration. “Fine!” She let go of him and groaned. “But the offer still stands! Whenever you want to go straight, you come to me! ME! You hear me, you Swedish dreamboat? You Nordic god? ME!” She barked at him and turned him around toward Annie. “Now you be gentle to her.”

Annie dropped her jaw. “Gentle? Oy! You’re kidding me! Gentle, shmentle!” She reached out to the Swedish man with both arms outstretched. “Sven! Get over here! Take me! Do your worst! ROUGH ME UP! Pull out that viking hammer of Thor and nail me!”

Joey was completely confused and watched the two girls fight over the big Swedish man. Sven was politely embarrassed, and he walked over to Annie. “Shall ve get started?”

“Oh, no no!” Annie scolded the man. “You’re not wheeling me anywhere. You carry me! Up! Up!”

Sven smiled politely, knelt down in front of Annie, and wrapped one meaty arm around her tiny frame. Tricia watched and admired him from behind, and reached her fingers out towards his butt and pantomimed clawing his perfect ass while she silently mouthed a few dirty words. Annie screamed in joy as the big Swedish man snatched her up, threw her over his broad shoulder, and effortlessly stood up.

“AAIIEE! OY! YES! TAKE ME!” She laughed and squealed as she dangled over his shoulder. She slapped both of her hands on Sven’s butt. “OY! What a TUKHES!”

“Miss Annie! You shoodn’t.” Sven chided.

But Annie didn’t care. She screamed, giggled, and laughed and started her horrid singing as he carried her and his gym bag into her bathroom.

(sung to the tune of Donna Summers’ “Hot Stuff”)
“Kh’zikh meer epes FLAYSHIKS, zol meer zein yontef!
Darf ikh epes FLAYSHIKS, ketsl, hei nakht!”

Tricia watched the two disappear into the bathroom with a look of pride and joy and just a slight touch of envy on her face. She sighed, and looked at Joey.

Joey stood there with a look of exasperation, confusion, and impatience. “Well?” he barked. “Are you going to tell me what’s going on? Who is that guy? What’s happening?”

Tricia gave him a beautiful loving smile, clapped her hands together as if she were holding something precious, and said “Something disgusting! Come along! Let’s go out and get something to eat. Are you in the mood for ice cream?”

They arrived at a Baskin-Robbins. Joey ordered a banana split, and Tricia dutifully looked at the plain vanilla non-fat frozen yogurt for a minute or two, had a profound thought about the fragility of life, and then decided “Fuck it! Hot fudge sundae! Extra chocolate!”

They got their ice cream and sat together in a small table in the far corner, far away from other customers. Tricia stared at her dessert, and watched the gooey chocolate sauce drip down over the whipped topping and ice cream. “Ohh ... I am going to pay for this,” she muttered to herself.

Joey looked at her expectantly. “Well?”

Tricia smiled. “Okay. Let me tell you what’s happening.” She leaned in toward him and spoke softly. “Joey? Annie loves you. She loves you very much. And she wants to explore that love with you. She wants to love you in the same way that I love you.”

Joey blinked and smiled slightly. “Really?”

She nodded. “Yes. But she’s a very different girl than me. This morning, when she turned you down, it wasn’t because she didn’t want you. It’s because she DOES want you. But she’s not the type to just jump into bed with any guy when the opportunity strikes. I’m more like that.”

He looked worried.

“Well, I USED to be. I don’t think I should be doing that anymore. But Annie likes romance. She wants to be pampered and adored and swept off her feet. And she wants everything to be perfect and magical. She wants a very special experience with you.” Tricia paused. “But her paralysis causes her a big problem with that.”

Joey looked confused. “What do you mean?”

Tricia smiled. “She does a good job fooling us that her life isn’t difficult, but it is.” She picked up her spoon and scooped up a large blob of the dark brown sauce and let it drip down onto her sundae. “Of course, what I have to tell you now should be all rights make this look so disgusting that I wouldn’t be able to eat it, but somehow chocolate is immune to that.” She closed her eyes, put the spoon in her mouth and licked the chocolate sauce off of it. The rich, sweet flavor flooded her tongue and filled her with an ecstasy that she did not understand, nor want to understand. “Mmmm...” she moaned. “God, I love chocolate!” She savored the sweet essence for a few seconds, and opened her eyes. “I’m talking about when she goes to the bathroom.”

Joey blinked in surprise. “The bathroom?”

Tricia nodded. “Think about the muscles in your body. She can’t use any muscles down here...” she gestured, “ ... below the waist. It’s not just her legs. It’s everything down in here, in her abdomen. We use these muscles to control when and how we go to the bathroom. We know when we’re full and need to go to the bathroom, we can hold it until we get there, and we can release when we’re ready, and push if we need to. But Annie can’t do any of that. She never knows when she needs to relieve herself, and she just goes when she needs to, and she doesn’t know when it happens. That’s why she wears diapers. You knew she wore them, right?”