"Do you think we should?" she asked."Why not? We're not in school anymore. Our parents don't have any say in what we do. The school district doesn't d...ug test us. And most important, we're on vacation. Why shouldn't we have a good time?"She thought it over for a few seconds and then smiled in a naughty little girl way. "I find you make a good point," she said. "Do you really think you can get some?" You go get some rolling papers," I told her, "and I'll get us some pot." Deal," she said. "Come. Unwillingly, grudgingly, silently, at my own request, but I left. I resigned. Not in disgrace, but ‘don’t show your face around here again, Buddy’ was the implication. For about a fortnight, I toasted my discharge in a motel in Jacksonville, NC. I stayed at a terrible place, drinking more of that scotch, wishing I had a friend, finding one in the bottle. I was not suicidal. I did what we all should do when we have no one to go to. And there was no one. The major warned me. ‘You are a candidate. Maybe. Be patient. He redirected his thoughts to food. Grabbing the room service menu, he ran his finger down the overpriced list of breakfast items. Good lord, I hope this company knew what it was getting into when it agreed to cover all my costs. Milo was not a light eater, especially when it came to breakfast. Picking up the phone, he put in an order for a scrambled egg platter, fresh fruit plate, bacon, two glasses of orange juice, and a pot of coffee. Within 20 minutes, the order was. ”“Damn. Let me check her out. Help me get her stabilized, okay?” Taeodoshi turned to his own pack and extracted a trauma kit. He reeled in Maria’s reserve canopy and spread it out on the dusty ground. He set the trauma kit down on the parachute fabric and opened it. Hollis leaned over his wife and listened to her labored breathing as he whispered her name and brushed her blonde hair out of her face.The shuttle circled around for another pass as the men tended to Maria. The equipment drops were.