The words stung and Tony was at a loss for how to handle himself. If a student came at him with that, he could kick her out of his office or drop her from his class.
If some snotty critic put that in a book review, he could ignore it or write a rejoinder. If a friend or a lover said that to his face, it could give him reason to reexamine that relationship. But K.J. was none of those things.
“This is stupid,” Tony finally concluded. “People are dying out there and we’re sitting here arguing.”
“Story of my life,” K.J. said. She drained the last of her beer, made a similar effort to finish off the salad and came up well short. “Let me ask you something.”
“Shoot.”
“You said ‘people are dying.’ Amy’s one. As a man of the world, do you think we’re headed for more?”
“I hope not,” Tony replied in earnest. “But I don’t know.”
