In the crowded and difficult conditions of a steep hillside, houses have had to struggle to establish their territory and to survive.
A good short-story writer has an instinct for sketching in just enough background to ground the specific story.
Guys are simple... women are not simple and they always assume that men must be just as complicated as they are, only way more mysterious. The whole point is guys are not thinking much. They are just what they appear to be. Tragically.

