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128 lines
2.8 KiB
Text
128 lines
2.8 KiB
Text
.LP
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.ce
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.ps 16
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.CW
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TAB2, 1960
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.R
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.ps 8
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.CW
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tags: 1960, margaret, tab1, tab2, the_chief
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.R
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.PP
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.ps 10
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The testing was rigorous but fair. I don't know if the equipment
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had any real effect, but he started talking just the same.
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.PP
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.ps 10
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.I
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bump bump bump clickity clickity click bump bump bump
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.R
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.PP
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.ps 10
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Little Tommy.
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.PP
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.ps 10
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"Semen the color of old comic book pages, aged plastic, tape
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residue, dipping sauce for crayons that were flattened for a specific
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age group. You know, so they wouldn't roll away\(emthe crayons, not
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the age group. Dog piss on the carpet, striped wallpaper, a tray of
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stale flat bread, a portfolio of chalk drawings."
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.PP
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.ps 10
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"What else do you remember?"
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.PP
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.ps 10
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"The weather. Nothing."
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.PP
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.ps 10
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"Let's start over from the beginning."
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.PP
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.ps 10
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Aptitude tests. Memory. So far, things were progressing smoothly. I
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actually choked back a tear. I admit it: I was proud of him.
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.PP
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.ps 10
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"Son, have you figured out what's going on yet?"
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.PP
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.ps 10
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"A severed, pierced penis. In a can of Prince Albert pipe tobacco.
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Title:
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.I
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Not Funny."
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.R
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.PP
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.ps 10
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I wrote
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.I
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TAB2
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.R
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on the inside of his hat and placed it on his head.
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.PP
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.ps 10
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"Let's get the hell out of here."
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.PP
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.ps 10
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Tommy hated the matching outfits. Orange toboggan hat, bomber
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jacket, military galoshes. I had told him to think of it as his
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uniform. He scratched at his buzzcut, dumbly.
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.PP
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.ps 10
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I hoisted him into his car seat.
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.PP
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.ps 10
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Winter had struck while the other boys were studying. Permafrost,
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monochrome landscape. I had Tommy out and about in the elements every
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day; we covered four miles, on average, pacing the farmer's market
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near headquarters. He was already beating up on the older boys in the
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class ahead of him.
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.PP
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.ps 10
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Or so I had forecast, when I set him on this routine.
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.PP
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.ps 10
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Reality didn't quite track. Tommy wasn't meeting his PT
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requirements. I began scrubbing his face with an abrasive washcloth
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and doubled his training hours.
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.PP
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.ps 10
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"Father, who do I have to blow around here to get a time sheet?"
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.PP
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.ps 10
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"You'll be done when I say you're done."
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.PP
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.ps 10
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The kid's mother.
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.PP
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.ps 10
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I cleared my cache and ducked into a flower shop, dragging Tommy
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behind me. He planted himself on the floor and booted up a comic book.
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I should never have bought him that thing.
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.PP
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.ps 10
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"The usual?"
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.PP
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.ps 10
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We came in here at least twice a week.
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.PP
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.ps 10
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"Affirmative. Red."
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.PP
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.ps 10
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I jammed the bundle of roses under my arm and yanked Tommy along to
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the truck. I thought he might have voiced a slight whimper, but I
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couldn't be sure so I ignored it.
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.PP
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.ps 10
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The mesh was offline in the truck. I punched the dashboard and
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Tommy let out a laugh. Finally, the HUD activated and we peeled out of
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the parking lot.
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.PP
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.ps 10
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I was thirty\-three years old.
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.PP
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.ps 10
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So far, 1960 was diminishing returns.
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