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142 lines
3.2 KiB
Text
142 lines
3.2 KiB
Text
.LP
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.ce
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.ps 16
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.CW
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ADVANCE
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.R
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.ps 8
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.CW
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tags: 1963, margaret, tab1, tab2, the_chief, violet
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.R
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.PP
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.ps 10
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All told, it was three years until I saw him again. Draped in
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something reflective, outfitted for stresspants.
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.PP
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.ps 10
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He appraised me, amused.
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.PP
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.ps 10
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"I don't suppose you objected too strenuously, when they told you
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what it was they planned to do to me."
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.PP
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.ps 10
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Six years old. Circumcised. Ready to start public school.
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.PP
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.ps 10
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"Son, I've been doing my best to provide for your future. You're
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getting the best education tax dollars can buy."
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.PP
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.ps 10
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"Prove it, Dad. They cut off my
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.I
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stick."
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.R
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.PP
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.ps 10
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By 1963, the war had started.
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.PP
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.ps 10
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"They didn't cut it off. They've trimmed back the excess skin.
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Hygienic benefits. Read up on your New Jack Testament. It's part of
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the package."
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.PP
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.ps 10
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I'll admit, the family tended to shunt Tommy aside. We had shelled
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into advanced operations and were channeling most of our attention to
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the tactical situation above ground. Probably some things slipped by
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unnoticed.
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.PP
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.ps 10
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"Nobody ever asked what I wanted."
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.PP
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.ps 10
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Maybe I should have sent him back to his mother. He seemed more
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attuned to her.
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.PP
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.ps 10
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"Irrelevant. You're not old enough to have an opinion on this.
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Here, hop on up here. Help me parse these filter rules. We have
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incoming."
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.PP
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.ps 10
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"You old fuss budget!"
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.PP
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.ps 10
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My daughter.
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.PP
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.ps 10
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"Why don't you give him a break. He's been studying all summer."
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.PP
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.ps 10
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"This wasn't strictly my decision, Violet."
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.PP
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.ps 10
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"Lies! You're the ranking officer now."
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.PP
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.ps 10
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"He's going to learn a lot more by observing us here than he would
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diddling with you and your mother back at home. Praying. Whatever it
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is you do."
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.PP
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.ps 10
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"You're wearing him out."
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.PP
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.ps 10
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"It's part of the training. He'll endure."
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.PP
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.ps 10
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"Well, gee. I would advise that you get yourself a good lawyer.
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Tommy's peer group is quite litigious. See you never."
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.PP
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.ps 10
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Violet slammed a lot of doors, that year.
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.PP
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.ps 10
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The dream was this:
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.PP
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.ps 10
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My wife, my sister and Violet wandering through HQ. Someone I don't
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remember from high school walking up and smearing grease paint on my
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face, saying "Don't you remember me?"
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.PP
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.ps 10
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My wife, my sister and Violet walking through someone's house as a
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shortcut. The women stop to pick through the occupants' belongings. I
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advise them not to continue but they've become unresponsive. The
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occupants of the hovel wake up and sound the alert for their extended
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family, who appear from out of nowhere and accost us.
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.PP
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.ps 10
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Hometown Security arrives with shock troops and we are all
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separated and detained. I am interrogated by Jeff from
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CURB YOUR ENTHUSIASM\f(CW™\fR.
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.PP
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.ps 10
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By 1963 I had quit smoking, but still I made routine trips to the
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balcony to clear my head and to stare at the snow. There's no telling
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what my handlers thought of this. Ten below zero and there I was, out
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there in my shirtsleeves.
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.PP
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.ps 10
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Well, fuck 'em.
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.PP
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.ps 10
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I was close. Ten more months and the agency would have recouped on
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my advance. Then I could start in on the mortgage. Savings. Things
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would start to look up.
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.PP
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.ps 10
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Mostly.
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.PP
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.ps 10
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Tommy was still a worry. Soon they'd want to draft him.
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.PP
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.ps 10
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I wasn't sure he was ready.
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