He liked words without the letter ‘e’ in them and beaded bracelets. He collected both — the words on a waiter’s notepad in his back pocket and the bracelets on his wrist. He’d share one once in a while with an interesting stranger who made his acquaintance. He’d offer up ‘tryst’ or the yellow-red-yellow-red-yellow-red-blue bracelet, whichever he deemed appropriate. He liked to have the pretty girls smile and shake their heads at him, and everyone else impressed (and if he could have neither, at least he had a conversation starter). But the collecting made him wish he could pile people like words or accessories, and they always seemed to get away.