‘…With a kiss on the cheek she’ll be down on her knees begging please, baby, please…’ were the lyrics he’d just sang as he strummed the mu...ical instrument.‘What kind of song are you writing?’ I ask curiously.‘It’s a song I dedicate to my ex, Lexi,’ he smirked. ‘She’s a dick-hopper.’ I knew Lexi, she and I had been best friends in ninth grade year. After school she’d come over to my house, and I swear it was just so she’d discover my secrets because one time she asked me how I felt about Ian. My. I had to go to the bathroom down the hallway and through the kitchen.I was saying to myself, “Sharmila must be still sleeping. The TV was off in the living room and she’s not in the kitchen.” My eyes were still blinded from the bright sunlight. It was possible Sharmila could have been in the TV room, but I didn’t think so. After all it wasn’t even 9 o’clock yet. And I know I don’t get up unless I get my 8 hours.When I finished washing up in the bathroom, I thought I heard my vibrator, thinking. She allowed him to lead her to the lift, followed by the two men, the four of them silent knowingly expectant of what was to occur. Maggie watching the doors as they closed reminding her of the gates closing on a condemned man. With a click the car began its quiet decent the butterflies beginning to race about her tummy as they dropped towards the core of the earth, they all felt it slow and then stop, with just the slightest shudder the door slithered quietly open. They stepped. I’m Scott Martin, named after my father, and up until five months ago I was a captain in the United States Marine Corps. I was half way into my third deployment, the first one in Iraq and the second along with this one in Afghanistan. I had seen the promotion list for advancement to the rank of Major and I was in the top five. ****************** MY CONVERSATION WITH ‘JACK’ After pouring a healthy three fingers of bourbon into a glass filled with ice, I told ‘Jack’ about the conversation I had.