if the junes showed up , so much the better . `` i can hear the sea , `` she said . he was familiar with this neighborhood as he was with his own rooms . see , it 'd be a lot easier for me if you made your jokes funny . there was sadness in his eyes as well as anger . he could n't let her go now . dirty rags had been stuffed into holes in the wood and an ancient , broken rocking chair sat on the halfway-rotted porch . dear jesus , what if he had to sneeze ? 