[He doesn't want to tell her - he really doesn't want to tell her - but there's no use in trying to hide a goddamn thing from her, not with five other people able to rat him out back at the house. Fidgety and shifty-eyed, he looks down at the floor and mutters, ] Ten months.
[And to really look at him, it's not hard to believe. While he's just as tall as he'd grown by the summer of 1985, everything about him is just a little wrong in comparison to the neat, marginally-well-cared-for brother Nancy left at home. His hair is atrociously overgrown, gone curly in the foggy climate, and on either side of a crooked nose - the result of a poorly healed break - the bags under his eyes are nearly purple. So many months of malnutrition, fitful sleep, and constant stress have practically made him a study in adolescent development.]
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[And to really look at him, it's not hard to believe. While he's just as tall as he'd grown by the summer of 1985, everything about him is just a little wrong in comparison to the neat, marginally-well-cared-for brother Nancy left at home. His hair is atrociously overgrown, gone curly in the foggy climate, and on either side of a crooked nose - the result of a poorly healed break - the bags under his eyes are nearly purple. So many months of malnutrition, fitful sleep, and constant stress have practically made him a study in adolescent development.]