I'm not sure how I feel about the way he tries to be humorous. Normally, on any other day, I would laugh. It feels like the sort of thing I should laugh at. But I'm furious and the pain is enough to make it difficult. My lips do twitch on their own, just at the corners. A week ago, it would have been a smile. A real one.

Instead, I say "Even if they weren't, we would never pay for them." Because we wouldn't. Our woods were off limits at home. Even if these were off limits, we would still come here. The two of us. Gale, and I.