Chapter 39: Picking Up the Pace The university experience is a blend of learning immense amounts of information, developing the

critical faculty to ponder and analyze that information, and exposure to profound stupidity. To report more fully on my second year of college would include either boring stories about learning or repetitive stories about deep levels of stupidity. So lets skip it. At the end of that year Cisco organized a shift from our four person suite in McTyeire to a six-person suite in Carmichael. We added Michael as Stoneys roommate and Brian Wilmot from our freshman floor. It turns out he and Cisco were fraternity brothers1 and had remained friends. After the semester ended, Cisco drove me back to Chattanooga and I spent the summer with Mrs. W going over Einsteins relativity theories from several different directions. What shed explained to me the previous summer blossomed in many different vectors, but it wasnt a problem-solving education, the way the previous summer had been. Shed give me things to read, then wed talk about them. We didnt have Clarence very often, but when we did, he was consistently annoying. Hed changed books from Carlos Castaneda to something equally idiotic called The Tao of Physics and wanted to talk to me about it as though he understood what he was talking about, which he didnt. He clearly missed Stoney. Stoney and Michael dropped by several times during the summer, always on the way to somewhere else. They dropped by in June before driving north to Detroit so Stoney could introduce Michael to his family. If Mrs. W was at all surprised that Stoney was now gay, she didnt show it. She had a kind of bemused look on her face as they clambered up to put their luggage in his bedroom. She liked Michael, and Michael liked her. Regarding my studies that summer in Chattanooga, my problem with Relativity was more a problem of sequence. By the time I came to understand Relativity pretty well I was already also reasonably far along in quantum mechanics. In quantum, I had subsumed the idea that the what and the why were unknowable and that the exquisitely perfect math of the wave-form was all we had. Dont worry about the physical realitythere may not be a physical reality. The equations work extremely well. Just use them! one of my professors had said, and he seemed pretty smart in most other ways. Mrs. W didnt like that. She was of a different generation. Its called physics because it describes a physical reality. She never quoted the Einstein dice deal, but it was clear she didnt like expressing physical realities in terms of probabilities. Everything was somewhere. That we couldnt tell exactly where didnt mean that it wasnt somewhere.
1

AE, which Beatriz told me had the reputation among sorority girls as being the coolest fraternity.

In July when Stoney and Michael were on their way to Marthas Vineyard to do something with Michaels family they stopped in and Clarence was there. He was so happy to see Stoney that it was almost pitiful. He was excited and bounding around like a dog who hasnt seen its owner for six months. It would have been touching if Clarence werent such a pain in the ass. For the fall semester I showed up a little early to talk to Prof. Dannhausen, who was my advisor in my capacity as Physics major. He was pleased to see me. I understood Relativity and so wanted to leapfrog over to the graduate level courses.2 He
2

Baida! Come In! Thank you for dropping by! He always seemed to be neatly coiffed and wearing a turtleneck. In deference to the Nashville heat, todays turtleneck was black cotton. Hello, Dr. Dannhausen, I said. He gestured for me to sit. To what do I owe the pleasure? He asked. Because Im your advisor, Sam Dryksos kept me apprised of your progress in Quantum Mechanics, and he said you were genuinely impressive in your command of the wave-function. Not everyone grasps Heisenberg so well. You know, it makes sense as Math. Im a double major. I dont have to have a sense of whats going on to solve an equation. And its really amazing how precisely the equations work out, I said. Indeed. I presume something is on your mind? he said. Yes, sir. I spent the summer studying Relativity. And? he asked. I think I understand it pretty well. How well? he asked. Well enough that Id like to skip all the undergraduate courses and take the graduate seminar. My, my, my. He thought for a few seconds, then looked at me. You have an amazing mind but this would be a leap even for you. So, allow me? he asked. Certainly. Who did you read? he asked. Einstein. Rutherford. I have a friend who knew them both. We talked a lot. He thought a minute. Youre from Chattanooga, arent you? he said. Yes, sir. Margaret Wertheimer, he said. Yes, sir. What a lucky young man you are. Still. Lots has happened since 1940. Before I let you violate common sense, allow me to ask you a few questions. Of course. He stood to write on the blackboard behind his desk. Its been a few years since I delved into this, but a few months ago, I attended a lecture about the Reimann Curvature Factor, he said. Interesting stuff, I answered. 2 2 2 2 Okay so, if I recall, and here he wrote on his blackboard: ds = dx1 + dx 2 + dx3
2 Sure. Straight Cartesian coordinates, I said. And Minkowski says you need to add a dx 4 to make it four dimensional. Exactly! But you still dont have any intrinsic curvature, and youre going to want it. So you end up at and here Dr. Dannhausen started to work it out. 2 I think you end up at ds = gik dx i dx k I said. He looked startled. Im sorry, Ive been thinking about this stuff a lot, I said. How do you get there? he asked, puzzled. If you spread out Reimanns four dimensional space you get 2 2 2 ds 2 = g11dx12 + g12 dx1dx 2 + g 22 dx 3 + g32 dx 4 and then that solves down to ds 2 = gik dx i dx k , I said. He wrote it down and frowned at it. He picked up his phone and dialed four digits.

quizzed me closely and called in a colleague before giving me permission, but he did. One more course I wouldnt have to share with Toni and Rob. So that semester I took all Physics and Math, except for one Greek course. The only course I took that Toni and Robb could also take for was an advanced quantum mechanics course. That we only had one course together seemed to bitterly disappoint Toni. She denounced Rob for not paying better attention and the university for allowing me to take a graduate-level relativity course just because I was a man.
Hello, Mark, he said to the phone. Im talking Relativity with and undergrad and wondered if you could spare a few minutes of your time. He nodded and smiled and hung the phone up. He frowned at the blackboard for a minute. I dont mean to be difficult, Baida, but Im out of my depth. I dont want to be wowed by my immense respect for your intellect into putting you into a course where you will not thrive. There was a knock at the door. Come in, he said. A slight, bearded young man, also wearing a cotton turtleneck, with jeans and those hideous Earth Shoes, came in. He didnt speak for a few seconds as he looked at the blackboard. So were talking Reimann Curvature Tensor? asked Mark. So he says, said Dr. Dannhausen. I dont follow, and so want to make sure he knows his stuff before I put him in graduate courses. Okay, he said. He turned to look at me. You? I nodded. He shook my hand. Mark Rudinski, he sad. I said my name. He looked at the equations. Yeah, well thats the way its done, he said. Funny order, though. The third one you have written out factors down into the second one, but thats the way I do it. Ask him about Relativity, said Prof. Dannhausen. Im a photon guy. Rudinski shrugged agreeably. Is strict Euclidean geometry actually possible? he asked. No. Matter disturbs space too much. What is it about matter that disturbs space? he asked. It either creates gravity or something that looks like gravity, and that bends space-time. Why do you put it that way? he asked. Because nobody seems to be able to tell me what gravity is, I said. You just did, he said. A curvature of space-time caused by unequal distributions of matter. Dr. Dannhausen, youre a particle guy, right? I asked. Just so, he nodded. How many millions of dollars were spent last year trying to detect gravitons? Hard to say. Several, certainly. Perhaps many millions. Okay, so if Relativity explains gravity so elegantly, as it seems to do, why do we need a little particle that does the same thing? Oh, indeed. And applying the wave-particle duality we can also assume that if there is a particle, there is also a wave, said Dr. Dannhausen. Rudinski was bobbing his head and making a circular motion with his hands that suggested I get this crap all the time and am tired of it. But while it may not be a strictly valid Euclidean universe, theres no reason to adjust Euclid or Newton either one because the amount that space is disturbed by matter is utterly miniscule, I said. Okay, so youre right about Euclid, Im still working on Newton, said Rudinski. But he knows his stuff. Are you going to put him in my graduate seminar? That is what he wants. Wont bother me if you do, he said. Okay so were going to start with Einsteins field equations. Capiche? he asked me. Yeah, sure. I can do them the way Schwartzchild does it, I said. I got a little easier way I can show you that works out more exact. Learned it from this Indian dude, said Rudinski. Hes good to go, he said to Dr. Dannhausen. See you next week, he said to me. He smiled affably and left. Dr. Dannhausen smiled and shrugged. I guess youre in.

Our rooming arrangements third year seemed straightforward at first but turned out to be workably baroque. We were in a dorm named Carmichael West, tall and Bauhaus-plain. There was another dorm that was also called Carmichael West, and I forget how we distinguished between them conversationally. A Carmichael West suite was occupied by six people of the same gender, at least theoretically. There were two doubles and two dingles, a kitchen/common area, and a spacious tiled bathroom. In our suite I had one single, Milton had the other. I was surprised, given his proclivities, that Cisco hadnt wanted the other single, but he waved me off and said he had it all under control. Cisco brought Brian Wilmot, whod been on our freshman dorm floor, in as his roommate. Stoney and Michael had the other double. Next door on our floor, in a stroke of luck that seemed impossibly broad, was a group of six women organized by Beatriz. I hadnt realized this was going to happen until I hauled my steamer trunk of possessions up to the suite and she was standing there waiting for the down elevator. Hello, Henry Baida! How good it is to see you again. I hope you will not mind the proximity, she said. What kind of proximity? I asked. Do you live near here? This is my suite, she said, pointing right, and this is yours, she said, pointing left. We had adjacent suites on the same floor. But proximity is likely to increase once Milton and Doris meet. Well, its good to see you again, Beatriz, I said. I liked Beatriz. How was your summer? Desparately loney and forlorn. Father Tom has left. Unforgivingly hot and humid. I think there were locusts. I could not find a job. Being back in college is much better. Good to see you. The elevator rang and the doors opened. She waved shyly as the doors began to close, pressed a button, then as the doors began to close, she hopped off again. Henry Baida, I am so happy to see you again, she said. I am happy to see you, Beatriz. At this point the doors to the other elevator (there were two) opened to reveal Rob and Toni in mid-bicker. As they stepped off the elevator carrying boxes they froze mid-stride when they saw me standing there with Beatriz, my steamer trunk propped against my knee. B.B., what is Henry doing here? demanded Toni. Hello, group-friend Toni, said Beatriz. This is your door, she said, pointing to the right, and that is Henrys, she said, pointing to the left.

Henry lives next door to us? Toni demnded. Yes, Beatriz answered. The chances against that are beyond astronomical, said Toni. Hello, Henry. At this point Michael and Stoney showed up from our suite and pushed the down button. They both said hello to Toni. Stoney, what are the odds that Henry and I would end up living next door to each other? Toni asked, looking at Stoney, expecting him to know. Oh, gosh. Henry actually knows statistics lots better than I do, he said. He wont tell me, she said. Actually I dont know whether I would have or not. So how many floors? Michael asked. Floors three through fourteen are occupied by students, but it doesnt matter, said Beatriz. On both of the two east towers? asked Michael, ignoring something I had heard. Si. So eleven floors of six person suites in each tower? asked Michael. Twelve, said Stoney. Floors count funny. Michael frowned, paused, and I could see him count on his fingers. How strange, Michael said. So twelve times six times two for total residents? Yep, said Stoney. A gross. How many eligible students? asked Michael. 4,500, assuming all eligible students are interested in rooming here, which theyre not, said Beatriz. For the first time since Id met her, Beatriz seemed impatient. So assuming 4,500 students applying for 144 slots. Michael began. A flawed assumption in too many ways for me to politely fail to intrude, said Beatriz, approaching exasperated. Beatriz, I interjected, you said the numbers didnt matter. Why was that?

Thank you, Henry Baida. The numbers dont matter in a way. Your wonderful friends Michael and Thomas were prepared to calculate the odds as though this were a random event, but it wasnt random in any way. I wanted my friend Doris to live next door to Henrys friend Milton, so I have made that happen. The odds against it are largee, although I would not characterize them as astronomical, she said, glancing at Toni, but as I understand probability, it applies to random events, and my actions took this out of the scope or randomness. Cool, said Stoney. The bell rang and the elevator arrived so Stoney and Michael left. Michael gave us a thumbs up as the doors closed. How did you arrange it? asked Toni. I have friends, Beatriz answered. Toni shrugged. See ya, Henry. See ya, B.B. said Toni, and made of for her own suite. Beatriz smiled sweetly at me and pressed her hands together but didnt say anything. She looked at me expectantly. So you have a nickname? I asked her. She frowned in concentration for a few seconds. Why, yes, Henry Baida, I do. Why do you ask? Because Toni calls you B.B. I said. Ah, well. That is not my nickname. No one except Toni calls me that? She looked up at me with her shy brown eyes. Toni has her own rules? she said. So what is your nickname? I asked. I was aware that we were spending a lot of time in the hall. I stood my trunk against the wall, as out of the way as it could be in front of the elevator doors. Aunt Dora called me Little-Ship-Under-Full-Sail. It was Juliette Gordon Lows great-graandmothers nickname. She lived for four years among the Indians when she was a child and this was the name they gave her, Henry. Do you mind if I call you Henry? Of course not. Were best friends. At this she seemed to tear up. You say the sweetest things, to me, Henry Baida. Henry, I said. Henry, she said, and touched my arm.

So who is Juliette Low? I asked. She founded the Girl Scouts of America, she answered. And how did her great-grandmother come to be living with Indians for four years? I asked. This is an excellent question, Mr. Henry. I do not know the answer? But I would expect that her parents were mightily, exhaustively worried about her whereabouts the entire time. But on this point my book was completely silent. It did use the word captured with respect to the Indians custody of Mrs. Lows great-grandmother, so I imagine there were aspects of her interactions with Native Americans that were perhaps troublesome to her or her family. The book also mentioned that when Mrs. Low as a child went to visit her grandparents in Chicago that the Indians would meet on her grandparents front lawn. So apparently there were no hard feelings? When was this? I asked. Hard to say? She experienced the siege of Savannah, which would have been during Shermans March to the Sea at the end of the Civil War. So before the 1860s? she said. And youre saying that there were Indians in front yards in Chicago within a lifetime of the Civil War? I asked. Si. Okay, I said. Mrs. Low lived through the Siege of Savannah? said Beatriz. In the Revolutionary War? I asked. Cantbe. I took American History at City High. No. In the Civil War? Beatriz, there was no siege of Savannah during the Civil War. Hardee set up for one but once Shermans troops took Ft. McAllister Hardee ran away. The South didnt even put up a fight over Savannah. There was a pause. Mr. Henry, my Girl Scout Handbook relates these facts unambiguously. All right. Im sorry. I didnt mean to argue. There are just other versions of this story. This book, the Girl Scout Manual, is very important to me, Mr. Henry.

Just Henry. No need for Mr. Henry, I said. Thank you. It seems very odd to address you without some expression of subservience or respect, she said. Were friends Beatriz. Thank you so much Henry I dont have much experience with friends. Youre friends with Toni. Group friends, she said. Our group therapist assigns us friends to work on the issues we reveal in group sessions. Toni and I have been assigned to each other. Toni has helped me in many ways. Dr. Rogers told her to encourage me to do things outside of what he refers to as my comfort zone. And Toni has been very successful at this. What kinds of things are you doing? I asked. Going to football games, she answered. So you like football? I asked. No, not at all. But I have learned a lot about it, and going to the games gets me to be able to be around crowds. And gets me to go to different places. I dont like to travel, and she makes me drive to Knoxville and Mississippi and Georgia. I am fretful as I do it, but her insistence has made me a more complete person. Plus she often finds me dates. One of them was rewarding, although I can never see him again, and another was you. I am very glad I met you, Henry Baida, and I have Toni to thank for this. So are you supposed to be encouraging Toni to do something new? I asked. As a group friend, I mean. Yes, Mr. Henry, I am. She sighed. What are you encouraging her to do? Dr. Rogers wants me to encourage her to be more tolerant of other points of view. I see, I said. There was a pause. Beatriz looked at the floor, then shrugged, then looked at me with an expression that mixed sadness and irritation. I expect shes not very cooperative about thaat, I said. Thank you, Henry Baida. Toni is exceedingly uncooperative. I feel that I am called upon to stretch myself as a group friend to do the things she insists that I do, and I

feel that I am a better friend to her and a better person to myself for having done so. But I assumed that the friend gestalt, if I may call it that, would be in some ways reciprocal. There was an awkward pause and Beatriz looked at me earnestly. Yeah, well, Tonis pretty focused on herself, I said. Beatriz thought a minute. I am not good at human interaction, Mr. Henry, she said. I was about to say something but she continued. Is this observation about Toni what people call understatement, which is you being wry, or you being honest, which is to say youre admitting to me that you find Toni to be tiresome? Or another, simpler form of honesty in which you admit to being a person who observes but does not always understand what he is seeing and therefore occasionally creates narratives or theories about what hes looking at but never pretends to know for sure and is always willing to change his mind and Ill be darned I think I know you after all my dear, dear previously mysterious Henry Baida. She was very happy as she said the last part. Youre a fascinating woman, Beatriz, I said. The elevator rang and Stoney and Michael reappeared with two men carrying a king-sized mattress that was hard for them to maneuver out of the elevator. Stoney smiled and Michael waved but no one said anything. The foursome disappeared into our suite with the mattress. I am so glad you think so, my Henry. So do you have any comment on my description? she asked. I had to think. Well, Im not particularly self-reflective. I just dont think about myself all that much. I dont think Im as interesting as anybody else I know. To think about, I mean. But I think probably there are rules that govern the cosmos and our understanding of the rules will never be perfect. Even if we could figure them all out, though, I maybe the rules get disrupted from time to time or dont apply uniformly in all parts of the universe. So you can never really understand what youre looking at, and even if you do, it may change or break down as youre looking at it, so you can never be sure and its hard to be confident that you have it all figured out, even when you have. I think you always have to be willing to look at new information, to tinker with your view of the world. To change your mind. No matter what you believe, no matter how sure you are, no matter what youve been taught or read, you may be completely wrong. Have you read Kuhn? Yes, of course. This is college, my Henry. Everybodys read Kuhn. Well, I just read him a couple of months ago, I said. Oh, Henry Baida, I had no idea, she began, appearing mortified, and her hand popped up to cover her mouth for the first time since she drove me home from Knoxville the preceding fall, and certainly no intention of insulting you. Please, please forgive me.

No forgiveness needed. If you want to be insulting youll just have to try harder. The guys who had carried the king-sized bed into our suite returned to the elevator carrying most of the component parts of a university-issued dorm room single bed and pushed the down button. You are very sweet to me, Henry Baida. Im really not, we just get along, I said. The two workmen looked at us speculatively. One of them lit a Kool with a wooden kitchen match he sparked off with his thumbnail. The elevator showed up and they got in, exchanging a glance. If Beatriz was aware theyd been there she didnt show it. Well, Mr. Henry, I have detained you long enough. I appreciate as always, the opportunity to interact with you. She smiled sweetly and pushed the down button. When the elevator got there, she smiled again and waved as the doors closed. Sweet, as always, but crazy, as always. I dragged my steamer trunk into my dorm room, set it on the bed, and started unpacking. The workmen and Michael kept reappearing, bringing things and removing things until all of the university-issued furniture was gone and had been replaced. The room, designed as a double, had separate areas for each of its two intended occupants, not completely divided but somewhat separate. One of these areas had become a sleeping area, with a king-sized Ethan Allen sleigh bed and two nightstands with matching cut crystal lamps, and the other had been transformed into a sitting area, with two green leather couches, quarter-sawn mission-style coffee tables and end-tables, and bronze reading lamps. I returned to my own room and could hear something going on in the common room. I looked, and the workmen were removing the kitchen table and the couch. I ventured further back into the suite and found Brian and Cisco in the middle of a discussion. Yo, I said. Yo, they answered back. Cisco was lying on his bed in khakis, topsiders, and a green Alligator shirt, smoking a Marlboro. Brian was in green battle fatigues and black combat boots with a white sailors hat, which seemed a little out of place. What are they doing? I asked. They think the furniture the schools provided is shitty so theyre putting it all in storage and replacing it with this other stuff theyve bought, said Brian. Hi, Henry. Hi, Brian. Long time no see. Have you seen the stuff theyve bought as replacements? I asked. No, but the stuff in their room is pretty cool. So I think well be good, said Cisco.

This is odd, I said. Yeah Brian and I have been debating whether this is a gay thing or a money thing. And? Brian here comes from money and hes come close to convincing me that this is a money, class and privilege deal, said Stoney. You went to Westminster, I said. Yeah, yeah. My dads a lawyer. We werent hungry. But Brians people own a sporting goods company up in New Jersey. And he says Stoneys people own a big chunk of G.M. and Michaels people own Manny Hanny, more or less. Manny Hanny? I asked. Manufacturers Hanover Bank, Brian said. Old money. Big money. Why arent they at Harvard? I asked. Both fathers are on the Board of Trust here, said Brian. As is Brians, by the way, said Cisco. Thats how he knows all this. And youre in R.O.T.C., I said to Brian. Call me a patriot, he answered. Youre a patriot. Thats not the right cover for fatigues, I said. He took off his white sailors hat and looked at it. Yeah, I know. But I dont have a fatigue cap here. I can pick one up at the post, and carrying the crackerjack will let the C.O. know I didnt just forget. Gotta run. Later, dude, said Cisco. Brian left. Michael and Stoneys redecoration efforts werent the only oddity of the semesters rooming arrangements. As Beatriz had predicted, Milton was quickly smitten with her friend Doris. He followed her around as though she were magnetized and then shortly after classes began it was obvious that she had invited him into her bed. The impact of this development was immense, personality-wise. I dont think I ever met her, but his descriptions of her were rhapsodic. In a matter of days he went from being tense

and brooding to happy-go-lucky and light-hearted overnight and was genuinely enthralled with her. Then, one night Beatriz showed up in our suite, in Miltons vacant room. She didnt announce herself, but Cisco and I, arguing about whether Gerald Ford was or was not an idiot, simultaneously noticed that she was getting ready for bed in Miltons room, wearing blue flannel pajamas and a white terrycloth bathrobe. Cisco looked first at her, then at me. Hello, Beatriz, I said. Cisco smiled at her and gave her a little hug. Girls all liked being hugged by Cisco. Cisco looked at me again. So . I said. Bunking here for the night? I asked. She smiled sweetly and nodded. I know this is unconventional, but please, my Henry, and Henrys good and perhaps best friend Frank whom all the boys seem to call Cisco, Milton and Doris are very into each other and have turned out the lights in our room? Doris and I are roommates? So when Milton and Doris are enjoying themselves, and I am glad they are, because in my opinion they are far better together than they are apart, but if you think about the actual way it works out you might come to understand that it is difficult for me, a shy person, to be in the same room where Doris and Milton are communicating intergenderally. And since Doris and Milton are busy next door in the room the university has assigned to Doris and me, I would prefer to bunkelsewhere tonight. And what with one thing and another, barring a fight that seems unlikely given the sounds coming from the room Doris and I are supposed to share, I am relatively confident that Miltons room will remain unoccupied all night. So, unless anyone objects. she said. I cant imagine anyone would, said Cisco, smiling at her, looking into her eyes, and taking her hand. Your company is always welcome. Our house is your house. He smiled as though to communicate that he knew he was acting corny, then lightly bowed and kissed her hand, then stood and smiled. She seemed reluctant to let go of his hand, and blushed pretty floridly.3 Mr. Cisco, I understand why the girls all refer to you as charming. Good night, Mr. Henry, and good night, Mr. Cisco. She smiled and waved a fluttery wave at me but especially at Cisco and closed the door. I did not hear the bolt lock slide home. How do you do that? I asked. No good answer. I cant even take credit for it. They just like me. He shrugged and lit a Marlboro.
3

One could also accurately say she blushed florally, because it was pretty bright, but Im not sure about the usage. It was cute.

Interesting to watch, I said. And its a lot of fun to be me. Im lucky. Really, really lucky. You realize that Beatriz just moved in for good? he asked. Really? Think about Milton, he said. Okay. Perennial problem getting laid, he said. True. Now he has a blonde, blue-eyed Doris with big tits and no apparent limitations on pussy access. So you think Milt is apt to be next door most of the time? We might as well accept this now. I like Beatriz. Shell need to tell us how bathroom rules will work. And he was right. Beatriz moved into Miltons room and became part of our happy family. Stoney and Michael loved her and had no trouble with having her around all the time. It also turned out that Mary Roberts, whod always been interested in Brian, was also next door. Beatriz was very thorough. So the temptation of a pretty blue-eyed girl who wanted a full-time relationship proved to be very powerful and Brian disappeared as a suitemate, and Cisco had his double to himself. You must have seen this coming, Cisco said to me, when I realized he had a double-sized single. No, no. And you did? I aked. Sometimes I can see a few moves into the future, he said. Do you play chess? I asked. Yes, but please dont tell anyone. I also play duplicate bridge. He thought to himself for a minute. Because you wont violate a confidence, I tell you things I should keep to myself, he said. Odd. Almost as though I had a need to confess. Which I dont think I do. Im Catholic, of course, but dont see you as any kind of confessor. You know this conversation has gone off in a kind of strange direction, I said.

Understood. Youre Catholic? he asked. No, no. Diffuse protestant. No clear path to denomination, I answered. Bud, youre Catholic. Ill take you to church on Sunday. Although that means I have to get up, which isnt so cool. But dude. Youre the most Catholic guy I know. Odd, then, that Im completely unaware of my Catholicism, I said. Look, Stoney didnt know he was gay when I met him, he answered. I fail to see the connection. Ill take you to church Sunday. Just go along, he said. Okay, so our suite for that year was me in a single, Beatriz in the other single, Cisco in a double that turned out to be a single because Brian moved in with Mary Roberts, and Michael and Stoney were thoroughly involved. We were an unusual crowd, but we had a good time. There were good dinner parties, and Stoney was nice enough to invite me to all of them, and Beatriz was a wonderful roommate. Of course the university wouldnt have been pleased had they known.