Me and my dad talked and he wanted me to go out for a sport. I was too short (5-foot-6) for basketball and too small for football. Wrestling just seemed like the right one to try.

I haven't talked to my Dad since the coin flip. I don't want to put him in that situation.

Tech stocks were oversold on a short-term basis and on Monday everybody had to get out of them because of Microsoft, and then Tuesday everybody thought that if Microsoft is broken up maybe it's not the end of the world, and maybe there's an upside to it.

I finally talked my dad into buying a bass boat.

Should I leave you two alone?" he asked, changing the subject.

"He's taken," I said, accepting the fact that forgiving himself was something Reyes didn't do. "Osh. By someone very special."

"And who might that be?"

This might be a little hard for him to swallow. Tact was definitely in order. Or I could just blurt it out and watch his expression go from content to disbelief to horror to a bristly, murderous kind of fury. I chose door number two. "He's destined to be with our daughter."

Reyes's expression slowly changed from content to disbelief to horror to a bristly, murderous kind of fury. "Oh, hell, no." He shot to his feet. "A Daeva? Are you fucking kidding me?"

Just like a dad.

"Yes, a Daeva. But I wouldn't dismiss him so offhandedly."

He whirled around and scowled. Not really at me. Just in general. "What do you mean?"

I pressed one corner of my mouth together in thought. "Okay, you know how I was the grim reaper all of my life, then suddenly I'm also this god from another dimension? And how you're the son of Satan all your life, then suddenly you're a god from this dimension? Who does that? Our lives are so weird. I think that maybe Osh is something else, too." I traced one of the dark lines on his face. "I think there's more than meets the eye. I see greatness in him, Reyes. I see a power beyond our imaginings. I see him giving his life for our daughter."

"Oh." He sat back down, satisfied. "As long as he dies in the end.

After that I started getting my adrenaline back. I just wanted to make up the points. I was nervous since it was my first state match. I had never been here before.