she began to fan out her excuses like a tired old poker-hand ( yes , but now i have a headache ; yes , but i 'm having these really shittypre-menstrual cramps ; yes , but i 'm a woman and therefore entitled tochange my mind ; yes , but now that we 're actually out here in the biglonely you frighten me , you had beautiful brute of a man , you ) , the lies that fed either his misconceptions or his ego ( the two were frequently interchangeable ) , but before she could pick a card , any card , the new voice spoke up .