"You know," she snarled. She knew she caught him by surprise because he jumped a little and turned his head quickly.

"Huh?"

"You know something you're not telling. If you think I'm gonna buy you didn't spend any time with my mom, you're one stupid guy. Now spill your guts."

"Listen, kid-…"

"Ray."

"Ray. What went on back then is something you don't wanna know. Alright? It's the last thing you wanna find out about. So stop asking questions."

"Why'd you go to prison, huh? Was it because of her? What did you do to her?" Ray demanded.

"I'm telling you, you don't wanna know!"

"Who the hell do you think you are, telling me what I don't want to know? You'd better tell me, or I swear to god I'll wrestle it out of her, and I know that'd kill you. I know your type, you can't stand to see someone else have to take the heat for you.

"Now I swear that if you don't tell me, I'll make her." Ray stood, hands in fists at her sides, feet slightly apart. She looked like she was two feet from the edge of her sanity and seriously considering mauling him if he refused.

He sighed and shook his head, the glasses hiding his eyes.

"It wasn't your mom's fault I went in. It had nothing to do with her. We were stupid. Kinda like we're being now.

"Your mom and me…well…I guess you could'a called us…er, involved. Romantically speakin'. Couple'a dates and whatever."

"Oh my god. You two were having an affair! Jesus!" Ray appealed to the sky, disgusted. She was so not ready for this! Of all things!

"Hold on a minute! Since when did I say she was married? The woman was as single as a nun!" Elwood proclaimed.

"Single? She was bloody pregnant with me, or soon to be!"

"Bull! Your mom wasn't married!"

"Wait a minute…" Ray struggled to understand. She rubbed her right temple, which had begin to ache with the pain of thinking too hard.

She looked at Elwood, then thought of her mom. She took a few long minutes to mull over how her mom couldn't have been married…and pregnant…but after all, one doesn't technically have to be wed to get pregnant…

She thought about it. Her mother must have had a fiancé, her dad! …And she had cheated on him! That's it! Not the most acceptable reality, but one Ray was willing to face.

"She was engaged, you sicko! Or did you not see the ring on her finger?"

"She didn't have no ring! Didn't you hear me? No husband, no husband-to-be! Just a dancer in a nightclub!"

"And what did you two do together? You didn't do the deed, did you?" she raved.

"Well I knew the cops were on our tail for a minimum of ten years! It seemed like a good idea at the time!"

The thought sank in and Ray felt nauseous. To think…her own mother had gone back on her fidelity and did it with this nobody, this felon who wasn't even worth the secondhand clothes on his back!

"Wait a minute. If she had no fiancé…and she was going to have me…and you're the only one she did it with…eighteen years…"

Ray retched. She was definitely going to throw up. And she did. Bending down, she felt the bile rise from her stomach and expel itself onto the forest floor. The stench hit her and made her throw up again, and when there was no more half-digested food in her stomach, her body began forcing up the very stomach acids that burned her tongue and sizzled in her nose.

"Oh god…oh my god…" She was about to fall over. Her whole abdomen hurt, and she felt Elwood's hands on her shoulders, steadying her.

"Jesus, kid! Are you alright?"

"No! Get off me! Don't touch me!" she spat, smacking his hands away and staggering backwards away from him.

Her world was a haze. She wavered back and forth before losing her balance and tripping over an upraised root. She fell backwards and hit her head on the trunk of a tree, already unconscious before her head touched the dirt.