He made separatism a way of life. As far as I know, he remains the only person who managed total separation from everything. The day he no longer had children or a wife or a country to separate from, he started drinking to separate from himself.

It’s difficult to look at yourself, so you don’t. You go days without seeing your face. You might catch a glimpse on a building window when your patrol roles through Kandahar, but you have a helmet and sunglasses to protect you.

I smile, amazed at how his response relates to the ridiculous politics of the day. An unintended bit of sense. I’ll never think of play-offs in the same way again.

I think about heading back home. But I want the train to rock me to sleep. I want to feel the watchful, confused eyes of hundreds of unknown strangers.

Ya know, ‘n life everyone’s suppose’ ta be equal, but there’s two big injustices in this world: money and good looks. ‘Cause they don’t depend on you and me, they depend on whoever brought us into this world. It ain’t right, but that’s the way it is, eh Mitch?