“We all do… it seems. Go east, it says, go east. I adopted Jack’s name.” He told her off-handedly. “He named me. It seemed right I should return the favor in a way… best I could, anyway. How’s it been around here? What’s been going on…? I mean… how many more of us here are there?” There was something to the air, the way the birds sung. There was this strength in the decline. This strength in the most broken people… Beat had always been drawn to the broken ones. Maybe because they were in enough pieces that they could offer enough of themselves to share with the whole class. Life was filled to the brim. Spilling over. “I’m writing a book.” He told her, as an afterthought.