She understood, for a ten year old she was pretty intelligent. We talked some about what I was gonna be doing in the Air Force and how she could come ...nd visit and how I would come home from time to time. She eventually fell asleep and so did I. In the morning mom woke us both up and did not say anything about Faith sleeping in my bed. Later that day she did but knew already why Faith was down in my room, Faith had been crying all week to mom about me leaving so she figured Faith had snuck down. Master Gunnery Sergeant Berkowitz was not the sort of foolhardy man who wins important medals in the heat of battle by doing near-suicidal acts, but nor was he a coward."Should I wear a side-arm, sir?" he asked the Captain."No. You wear full dress uniform, including the sword," was the crisp reply, "And remember, if they arrest you, you go quietly."Ramrod stiff at attention, the Master Gunnery Sergeant snapped, "Yes sir, Understood, sir."And so, twenty minutes later, he walked out through the. Lot of space was there. The statue of the Devi was as large as life. In front of it was an altar as wide a dining table. Grandpa applied sandal paste on my limbs and breasts and cheeks and forehead and garlanded the statue and me. Then he laid me on the altar with my head to the goddess.And he raised a question, “Who’s right is it to initiate this virgin, among the gents present here?”“It’s mine,” Rahul claimed, “Because I’m the one going to marry her.”“But we follow incest;” interrupted my. Number 17 looked like an average suburban house. Actually above average. I had to agree with Dick on his assessment: this one is not in our league.A man in his late thirties called out from the porch and waved us in. He shook our hands and introduced himself as “Derek”. We toured the house, its yards and a little bit of the neighborhood before we sat down in the living room to talk business. There really wasn’t much to talk about. The house was impeccable, if such thing exists, but the price.