​“Who do you read?” Kitty asked.

“Camus, Ayn Rand, Herman Hesse,” James Harris said. “I’m a student of philosophy.”

”Herman Hesse,” Kitty said. “Pony read Steppenwolf in his English class. It sounded like the kind of things boys like.”

James Harris turned the full force of his smile on Kitty.

“And Pony is your...?” he asked.

“My oldest boy,” said Kitty. “Everyone calls his father Horse, so we call him Pony.”