Finally she said, still staring at the street, ‘Did they do it to themselves?’ ‘Yes,’ I said. ‘I think it happens often.’ ‘My God,’ she said. ‘Why? Why would people do that?’ ‘I don’t know,’ I said, ‘I don’t know why they don’t do it alone, either. Or in private.’ ‘Yes,’ she said, ‘Maybe it’s the drugs.’ I didn’t answer for a minute or so. Then I said, ‘Maybe it’s the way they live.’ She stood up, looked at me with a look of surprise, and reached out and held my right arm. ‘Yes,’ she said, ‘that’s probably right.’
