"They still want me around," she said, "and they're good people. I couldn't love Pops any more if he was my real dad, and ever since he came into our ...ives, Mom's been happier and a better mama than she was before, even." How long have they been together?" Ever since I was fourteen," she said. "And Franklin's been with the Orioles, in one capacity or another, for most of that time. He was a coach at Frederick, and then at Bowie for a year, and now he's been Paul Warren's bench coach for three. We also had dug into a nearby hillside. The earth kept the cold off ofus as we would sleep. I saw that my troops would allow Rebel troops tocatch some deer or turkeys. (My troops also were out after the deerand turkeys. Plus what ever game that could be had. The hides and furskeep my troops warm.) We also lost a shipment of boots to the Rebels.From their dead, I saw that despite their will to fight, they wereabout to lose. I hope that when the war ends, they would use the samewill to keep the. You made a sound as you felt the impact. As it passed through you, your voice conveyed surprise, pleasure, and pain all at once. You were so turned on after just one. In the moments between held breaths you gasped in what air you could. You were overwhelmed by the experience, and you began to lose track of everyone and everything around you.Again. Another. Each time you felt its strings slap against you, a quieter version of that same sound escaped your lips, until you simply started to bite. I arrived in Lubbock while it was still dark and checked into a cheap motel. I noticed that Alfred had remained oddly silent during the drive. .“That’s right, you’re not from Texas. I’m a redneck at heart, Alfred.”“Yes, Sir. As you say, Sir.”The next morning, as I walked down the street to a diner for breakfast, I became aware of a very strange vibe. Earth, or at least the Central Texas part of it, had changed in the last two years.General civic maintenance seemed to have degraded. The streets.