I’d contacted the rescue organization using the same letter and information I had sent to all the others. Jamal—Casey’s ex-husband, Jamal—had responded in less than five minutes. I introduced myself and Eddie. Jamal and I talked. Eddie and Max “talked.” What they said, I had no clue, since it wasn’t in human English or in ASL. At the conversation’s end, Jamal said he was “stoked,” and so was I.
Casey did his best to convince Johnny and me that I might be better off going to Atlantic City solo. I offered up a half-hearted argument, too. Half-hearted because half my heart wanted Casey at my side and the other half didn’t. I wished Johnny could come, and I told him that, either instead of Casey or with him, to make it a threesome. A foursome. But Johnny couldn’t. I knew that, so I tried my b
