"Mama," she said, "do you, like, get what you just did back there?"

"Sheila," I said, "I think, like, totally. I, like, totally get it."

"Awesome." she sighed. "Damn, I wish I could do that with the guys I know! That is, like, so totally evolved."

I turned onto High Point Road and headed home.

"Whatever," I said.

I made it home, so tired I could barely remove my clothes before my head hit the pillow, and I fell into a deep and dreamless sleep that seemed to go on and on and on-right up until the bright sunlight of late morning streamed through the curtains of my bedroom window and the phone began to ring.