So much of how it was started when that cop got out and came up to me. But I didn't know all this when it first happened, I didn't know there would ever be a Leonard, or that this man would be his father, or that anybody would have to die.

The man with the lip was waiting for me. Watching for me to come back out the door. He could see me through the window the whole time, so he was just waiting. I thought maybe I should run, but my knees felt funny and I thought he would catch me anyway.
"Gonna get in the car on your own?" he said.
I thought about my dignity, and the promise I had made to myself, and I walked over to his car and got in.

When he was sure he had my heart, he held his hand still, and it felt warm against my skin. "That's how much I love you, Mitch. Okay? Do you feel better now?" Then a second later he said, "I didn't mean to make you cry, Mitch."
"No, It's okay. It's a good thing. Thank you. Thanks for the forever love. It helps. "
"Yuh," Leonard said. "I know."

"Mitch. I love you."
"I know, he says. "I love you, too, Leonard."
"Right now," I say. "In the present tense."
"I knew that's what you meant. That's the only kind of love you do. That's why we keep you around."
"Oh, is that why you keep me around."
"That, and the cool tattoo," Mitch says.