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149 lines
3.6 KiB
Text
149 lines
3.6 KiB
Text
.LP
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.ce
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.ps 16
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.CW
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NEW SENTENCES
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.R
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.ps 8
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.CW
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tags: 1982, 1986, tab1, tab2, the_chief
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.R
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.fp 1 R H
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.fp 2 I HI
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.fp 3 B HB
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.fp 4 BI HM
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.QP
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.ps 8
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Eyes burnt out. Almost awake. Vanishing act. Breathing late. Ringing
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sound. Mild discomfort. Feels like I'm wearing a restroom napkin.
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Tuning three stations at once in my left ear. The other is numb.
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Everything is back and forth. Fluorescents blink and convince me
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otherwise. Smooth, cold and dusty in places. Smell is shrink wrap with
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rubbing alcohol, but worse. Now questions. Tight grip turns to
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shaking. White noise. Corner of a desk in my eye, hard, but it just
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feels like it. Smudged ghosts huddling to warm up. Plastic bindings.
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Spittle smears my cheek. Sound of pliers and car keys. Something
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warmer than dish water. Cut with a razor. Tied. Comforting, now. Soft
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cotton blankets. Lukewarm relax. Taking off the restroom napkins.
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Softer sheets beneath me. Dermal abrasion. Folded towel on my
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forehead. More tying. A small pricking. Indistinct murmuring in my ear
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and then more shouting. I'm drifting. Quieter voices. Mother is not
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holding me.
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.LP
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.fp 1 R GA
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.fp 2 I GI
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.fp 3 B GM
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.fp 4 BI GMI
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.PP
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.ps 10
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"Sounds like the diary of a heroin addict," said the Chief.
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.PP
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.ps 10
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I laughed.
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.PP
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.ps 10
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"Surprising lucidity. My boy is a born writer. I doubt I'd be
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coherent enough to recount the experience."
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.PP
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.ps 10
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"Yeah, I've tried to read your reports."
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.PP
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.ps 10
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We had needed a willing guinea pig.
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.PP
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.ps 10
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The lawyers wouldn't even consider writing up our memo unless one
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of us was willing to undergo the procedure, to prove it was safe.
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.PP
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.ps 10
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I suggested we get new lawyers. That got some laughs.
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.PP
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.ps 10
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Then I suggested Tommy.
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.PP
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.ps 10
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"But will he do it?" the Chief had asked.
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.PP
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.ps 10
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"You'd better believe it," I assured him.
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.PP
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.ps 10
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Of course, it wasn't quite so simple. I hadn't even spoken to the
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boy in a number of years. He never seemed to be available when I
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called. In the end we had had to extract him from his place of
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employment. Forcibly.
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.PP
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.ps 10
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He just wouldn't cooperate. Even after my men identified themselves
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as Federal agents. Which they never, ever do. (I had given them some
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leeway to bend the rules. After all, this was my son we were talking
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about.)
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.PP
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.ps 10
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We got him out of there. And still he would not submit.
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.PP
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.ps 10
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I was exasperated.
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.PP
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.ps 10
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I authorized additional force just because he had made me so damned
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angry.
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.PP
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.ps 10
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Possibly, I should have told him it was me. But that would have
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tainted the experiment. The results would have been declared invalid.
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The whole operation would have been worse than useless.
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.PP
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.ps 10
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I had had to proceed under a cloak of anonymity.
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.PP
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.ps 10
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I hadn't anticipated that he would figure it out so quickly.
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.PP
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.ps 10
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After he was released, I received an e\-mail from him. Short, but it
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was him. Seems he regretted having gone through the experience. Asked
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me not to contact him again. Ever. It wasn't signed (in fact, it
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arrived as a message sent from my own account). But I know for a fact
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it was him.
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.PP
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.ps 10
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Shouldn't have been such a big deal.
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.PP
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.ps 10
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He had been through the training. He was qualified. Obligated,
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even.
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.PP
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.ps 10
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But of course, he had had a complaint.
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.PP
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.ps 10
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He always was a complainer.
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.PP
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.ps 10
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1986.
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.PP
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.ps 10
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Woke up this morning. Got a call from Piro. What's he doing back in
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the country?
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.PP
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.ps 10
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I was going to say
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.I
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I should let Tommy know,
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.R
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but then I remembered,
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he's still upset with me.
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.PP
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.ps 10
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I'll give him a few more years.
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.PP
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.ps 10
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He'll cool off, eventually.
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