Remember that for years, when I was a very young man, every time I entered a bed where a girl was waiting for me I’d be entering a courtroom where I’d lost many decisions. Doesn’t every culprit wish to turn the tables on his judge, deflate his eminence, show him up, kill him? Wasn’t it natural, since women had once held so much power over me, that when the tables were turned and it was I who had the heft, I’d want to gouge the situation for all it was worth?

Well, I did. I specialized in taking women away from men, particularly those handsome young fellows who played leading roles in films, tall and well muscled, every way confident or seeming so—war heroes, horseback riders, fast-car drivers, publicity gods. I wanted to prove that Vin Draddy wasn’t able to please a woman or hold her, not when I wanted her.