‘That old bitch still alive, anyway?’ ‘I have no idea, Carlos,’ Tim said, trying not to laugh. ‘I’ll tell you what, though. I’ll come by...practice tomorrow afternoon and sit down with you for a few minutes. We’ll see what’s wrong.’ ‘Aight, dawg,’ Carlos said, using Tim’s personal favorite nickname for himself. Every guy on the team with pigmentation in his skin called him that for some reason. ”Preciate it.’ ‘No problem,’ Tim said. ‘Now get back to your seat and send my co-pilot back up here.. I could not help butwhimper as I breathed in sharp agony, wriggling my bum and scrabbling to reachdown for my toes and hold my footing on the foot marks. ?Did I say you could shit, cunt?? he asked with icy coldness. I shook my head,grateful in my pain rack to be forbidden to speak. ?Let's get one thing understood. Cunts do exactly what they are told, or theyget belted. HARD.? The nozzle jammed up my anus again and I held my positionwith contrite submission, not daring even to flinch. Water. A few times, I even went back in the house and looked around trying to find what I was leaving behind. I shook off the feeling and tried to forget about it. This went on for several days until it finally hit me, I was looking for my rifle and the feeling I was getting was not having it with me. I could deal with it, just a habit from the last seven months and the years of operating in hostile countries.We spent the next week getting reacquainted with each other and enjoying life. The little. That was just the reality. So be angry with her? No. A little upset that all I got was a short note, but again, maybe that was better than some long melodramatic and ultimately meaningless narrative.We went into the house. I could smell something good cooking.“Beef stew,” called out Abigail, she’d heard us come in even from the kitchen. Well, and she clearly didn’t know the big news, not yet.I turned to the big man. “Owen, please, don’t make a big deal out of this. I don’t want to be talking.