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266 lines
6.4 KiB
Text
266 lines
6.4 KiB
Text
.LP
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.ce
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.ps 16
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.CW
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D.I.V.O.R.C.E.
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.R
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.ps 8
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.CW
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tags: 1967, margaret, piro, 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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While we waited for NO/MOAR to calm down, overtime was channeled
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into other projects.
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.PP
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.ps 10
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Tommy was doing well, he'd started his ops training in the fall. I
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had asked to have him assigned to Piro, the son of an old buddy of
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mine, and probably the most experienced instructor at the Farm.
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Everything seemed to be going as planned.
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.PP
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.ps 10
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Then we ran straight into PM/DAWN. I was out of the house for six
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months.
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.PP
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.ps 10
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Here again, I have to say, Tommy was a big help. On his trips home
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he'd advise HQ on tactics. He had a knack for anticipating how the
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enemy would respond to our provocations. It was bad of me, but again I
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found myself wondering how hard it would be to pull him out of
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classes, to get him more directly involved in the operation. He was
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shaping up to be our most promising young asset. I stopped worrying
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about whether or not he could handle a regular assignment. He was more
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than ready; anyone could see it.
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.PP
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.ps 10
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But the boy needed to be in school. On this, I honestly agreed with
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his mother.
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.PP
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.ps 10
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So, we had reached an impasse. I left him where he was.
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.PP
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.ps 10
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One day I was catching up on the backlog of paperwork when the
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Chief dropped something new on my desk. Immediately, I recognized the
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name of my daughter. It was printed there in the byline.
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.PP
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.ps 10
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I had never once taken a drink on the clock, but I found myself
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wondering after a bottle.
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.PP
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.ps 10
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I looked over the folder. It appeared to be excerpts from Violet's
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diary, circa 1966. Key portions had been circled, some of them were
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flashing.
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.PP
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.ps 10
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The phone rang.
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.PP
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.ps 10
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It was Violet's mother.
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.PP
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.ps 10
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It was my wife.
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.PP
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.ps 10
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As I say, I didn't even drink.
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.PP
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.ps 10
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I still don't know why Violet wrote it; the bulk of it was
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obviously fictional. Some elaborate account of my supposed boozing and
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general drunkenness. Wholly fabricated. In any case, the facts were
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irrelevant. The girl's mother caught wind of the mention of alcohol
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and that was that. It didn't matter that she'd never even seen me take
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a drink. We were getting divorced.
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.PP
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.ps 10
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I hung up the phone.
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.PP
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.ps 10
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Well, this would complicate dealing with PM/DAWN, almost certainly.
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.PP
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.ps 10
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I didn't want to draw things out\(emI knew the last thing the kids
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needed was the added drama of having to wait for me to show up and
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take my lumps\(embut I needed to make a few stops on the way home. I
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realized that, with my few personal belongings, I had very little that
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would be of interest to the children. Even Margaret's scriptures said
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that this was no way to make an exit from your family. Protocol
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required that I turn over, to each of them, some artifact to remember
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me by.
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.PP
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.ps 10
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Prop\-effects from here at HQ were no good; Tommy had spent his
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whole childhood playing with them out in the warehouse. He knew they
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were junk.
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.PP
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.ps 10
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There was nothing of interest in my truck, either. By habit, I kept
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it as clean as my office. Briefly, I considered giving Tommy the
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vehicle; but then I remembered that he was only nine years old. The
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truck was unlikely to be of use to him, at that age.
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.PP
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.ps 10
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What else.
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.PP
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.ps 10
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The Chief was in, so I couldn't sneak into his office and rummage
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through his mess, either.
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.PP
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.ps 10
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It looked as though I'd be paying a visit to a GANGSTERMAX\f(CW™\fR theme
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store. Find something there. Thus equipped, I could face the children,
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explain to them why this would be my last evening living with them at
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home.
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.PP
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.ps 10
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I hoped that the local branch would have what I needed in stock.
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.PP
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.ps 10
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Or at least something approximate.
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.ps 8
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.CW
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(18:54) < tommy> trds
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.br
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(18:54) < tommy> i guess he's not going to be home for a while. you
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know, you still have time to change your mind.
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.br
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(18:54) < violetCRUSH> Oh, fuck him.
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.br
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(18:55) < violetCRUSH> Mom's not going to stand for this.
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.br
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(18:55) < tommy> for him being late when he had to stop off at the
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store?
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.br
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(18:55) < violetCRUSH> Haha, no, you idiot. just watch.
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.br
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(18:55) < tommy> i really wish i could be home to stop you from doing
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this.
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.R
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.ps 10
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.PP
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.ps 10
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"An old belt?"
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.PP
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.ps 10
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"Son, you know I don't actually drink. But I won his belt twenty
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years ago, riding an electric bull."
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.PP
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.ps 10
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Tommy's connection cut out, momentarily.
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.PP
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.ps 10
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"You were drunk," he resumed.
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.PP
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.ps 10
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"Well..."
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.PP
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.ps 10
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I was spinning this stuff out of thin air. I hesitated for too
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long.
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.PP
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.ps 10
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"Of
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.I
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course
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.R
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he was drunk! Can you imagine Dad climbing onto an
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electric bull under any
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.I
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other
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.R
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circumstances?"
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.PP
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.ps 10
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"This is stupid," Tommy said. "Have you been drinking behind our
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backs all of these years or not?"
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.PP
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.ps 10
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"An analog microscope? But...
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.I
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why?"
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.R
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.PP
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.ps 10
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"This belonged to me in college, Violet."
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.PP
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.ps 10
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"But all the glass has been removed!"
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.PP
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.ps 10
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"I... it broke, some years ago."
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.PP
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.ps 10
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"I suppose I can use it as a bookend."
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.PP
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.ps 10
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"That's my girl. Good thinking. Adapt to the situation at hand."
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.PP
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.ps 10
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Tommy cut out, rather abruptly. This time on purpose. He seemed
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disgusted with the whole affair. Good, son, put it into your training.
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Violet kept trying to resume the connection, but he was gone.
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.PP
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.ps 10
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"What a kick in the chest\-balls, Dad," Violet said. "You could at
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least have bought us something
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.I
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expensive."
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.R
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.PP
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.ps 10
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I cleaned out my den with a minimum of fuss. Most of my gear was
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networked and took up little physical space. It wasn't a big job.
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Violet helped me pack my things out to the truck.
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.PP
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.ps 10
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Margaret never even entered the room. Violet said she was waiting
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until I was gone. The sour old bitch.
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.PP
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.ps 10
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Well, I don't suppose she deserved that.
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.PP
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.ps 10
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"You know I get your room when you're gone," Violet said, elbowing
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me in the ribs.
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.PP
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.ps 10
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"That's what this is all about, isn't it?" Of all the... I had
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finally put it all together.
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.PP
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.ps 10
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"And what if it is?"
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.PP
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.ps 10
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My only daughter. The sour little bitch. I don't care what you
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think, I won't take it back.
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.I
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She definitely deserved it.
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.R
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.PP
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.ps 10
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"We'll see if you're still smiling when your brother and I are in
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Ohio this summer."
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.PP
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.ps 10
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That shut her up. Her training was topmost in her mind. I could cut
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her off. Let her sit in my den.
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.I
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Reading
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.R
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about the training.
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.PP
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.ps 10
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"You don't know what you're doing, Dad."
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.PP
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.ps 10
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And she was right. I didn't.
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