Every evening I turn my worries over to God. He's going to be up all night anyway. (Mary C. Crowley)

“Vince?”

“Tommy, listen man, it’s not what it looks like,” Vincent explained as he lay in Ricky’s bed with the woman he had so affectionately named “the enemy”.

Tommy put his hands up in the air and began to back away.

“Tommy,” Vincent repeated.

“What you do in my dead brother’s bed with my dead brother’s girlfriend is the kind of messed up shit that you can bring to a therapist. I’m not – I can’t deal with this.”

Tommy left. He got in Tony’s car and drove to Penny. By the time Tommy got back, the enemy was gone. She had permanently removed herself from the house. Vincent tried to explain but Tommy wouldn’t let him.

“I don’t want to know,” Tommy kept repeating. Eventually he said, “Whatever kind of messed up Freud shit you have to do to get over Ricky’s death is on you and that’s none of my business. Let go and let God – that’s what Penny tells me when I’m mad. She’s brilliant that one, like really [freakin’] smart, so I listen to her and that’s what I’m going to do now.”

Vincent sighed.

“Let go and let God,” Vincent repeated with a relieved smile. He chuckled. “You’re really going to marry someone who preaches to you like that?”

Tommy punched Vincent in the face. Vincent tackled him to the kitchen floor. When the others came in and broke it up Tommy had a cut bisecting his eyebrow and Vincent had swallowed a tooth.

There's a bit of magic in everything and a bit of loss to even things out. (Lou Reed)

She forgot about her family, his family, her embarrassment, her future. She forgot about everything except Tommy.

“Yes.”

He pulled her up on the table and kissed her, hugged her, spun her around. Her hair got caught on the chandelier but the joy that surged through her veins dismissed the pain that occurred as her hair was pulled from its root. She was consumed by the fact that Tommy would be hers and she would be his ‘til death did them part, as long as they both shall live.

Penny spent a lot of time at Tommy’s house that summer. She never spent the night but she spent pretty much every waking moment there. Tommy’s every-waking-moment was different than Penny’s. Tommy didn’t sleep. From time to time he would pass out here or there but for the most part he didn’t sleep. From a scientific perspective, it didn’t make sense. The human body needs rest to recuperate and recharge but Tommy was awake all night and all day. The insane amount of heroin that he put into his body helped to keep him wired chemically and his fear or hate of sleeping alone kept him awake mentally.

Early on in the summer Tommy was getting ready to go pick Penny up and drive her to one of her last exams before her summer vacation began. The sun was up, the sky was blue, birds were chirping, and Senior had just had breakfast delivered to the house. The smell of bacon wafted through the air drawing the boys to the kitchen.

“Have you seen my car keys?” Tommy quizzed everyone as they walked in.

He demolished a cup of black coffee and tossed the mug in the sink with a loud clink against the other dishes that were piling up since Penny had been away studying for exams.

“Where is Vince?”

No one had an answer so Tommy ran a hand through his slick hair and tore upstairs to find him. He barged into his room but Vincent’s bed was made and he was nowhere to be seen.

“Shit!” Tommy said and scuffled through Vincent’s stuff trying to find his keys amongst the mess. He heard something and stopped cold. He listened and heard murmurs from the next room.

“Whore,” he muttered. He darted out and with a heavy fist banged on Ricky’s door until the lock popped and the door flew open.

“Who do you think you are bringing –”

Tommy froze.

He's the kind of man a woman would have to marry to get rid of. (Mae West)

Rick Senior sat at the head of the long dining room table. Penny’s father sat to his left, followed by her mother, sister, and then her. Tommy sat across from her with Vincent, Tony, and Rider strung along their side of the table. Ricky’s girl sat at the far end. If Senior was at the head of the table she was at the foot.

“You have a beautiful home,” Penny’s mother offered.

“Thank you,” Senior said. “It is nice to finally have dinner guests here to enjoy it. It is so rare that we have someone with the domestic aptitude of your generous daughter here to put our kitchen to use.”

Penny blushed. She was uncomfortable. Her family was so plain compared to the extravagance of Tommy’s family. Senior wore a suit; he most always wore a suit or a derivative of a suit. Even with his Sunday clothes on her dad looked poor in comparison. Penny was too aware of the fake pearls around her mother’s neck and the fact that her sister hadn’t showered after her shift at the hospital. Tommy and his brothers looked dapper. They had developed style as they accrued money and grew up while her family was still struggling just to get by.

Penny noticed her father looked particularly uncomfortable, more than her mother even. Her sister wore her resentment and anger well, it was hard to notice if you didn’t know it was there, but Penny, of course, knew. Penny couldn’t get past her father’s expression; he looked like he was downright in pain. Penny knew he never really liked Tommy, he may have hated him even, but she thought they had moved beyond that now. Somehow he seemed to be coming to terms with Tommy, warming up to him.

Today was different. Penny wondered if it was the dinner making him uncomfortable. Maybe the meal was making it seem serious. Penny wanted to tell him not to worry. She wanted to explain that this was just an ad hoc meal and didn’t mean anything. She wanted to reassure him that Tommy was an okay guy. She was looking at her father when Tommy stood up and raised a glass.

“I would like to make a toast,” Tommy announced. “I would like to make a toast to Penny who so graciously made the meal that we’re about to eat. Penny, you’re a generous girl. You’re a bright, no brilliant girl. You are kind and patient. From the time I saw you playing hopscotch alone when you were ten I’ve just wanted to sing to world that–” he swept the plate and cutlery away and hopped onto the table “–Penny Lane, you’re in my heart and in my ear.”

Rider shook his head. “Billy, don’t be a hero.”

Tommy’s brothers and his father laughed as Tommy hovered above them. Penny’s family was alarmed and nervous. Penny was embarrassed.

“Penny, you read me books when I couldn’t read. You’ve been my friend, my teacher, my mother, my lover, the highlight of my summer, the one I want to spend all my birthdays with.”

Tommy got on one knee on the table, towering above her.

“Will you marry me?”

Where there is love and inspiration I don't think you can go wrong. (Ella Fitzgerald)

Vincent shook his head. “Look at this beautiful specimen of raw male magnetism. What broad wouldn’t want a go at this?”

“Do you want to stay for dinner?” Tommy asked.

“Sure.”

“What are we having?” asked Tony. “Italiano? La spaghettinni.”

“Make sure the tortellini are made from scratch this time,” instructed Rider.

“You guys make your pasta from scratch?”

They all laughed.

“No one has actually cooked in this kitchen since the early sixties,” Rider clarified. “We eat take out almost exclusively.”

“You never cook?” Penny had no less surprise than she the first time Tommy had told her. She didn’t bother to tell them about how she grew up in a house that rarely ate out and certainly never had takeout, she didn’t want them to know how poor she was in comparison. She was just beginning to realize how poor she was.

“Why do you want to cook for us?” Tony teased.

“I can.”

Tommy and Penny paced the grocery store with a shortlist of ingredients she had picked up at her mother’s house.

“I’m glad we invited your parents to join us.”

Penny nodded with a nervous tight-lipped smile.

Tommy put his hand on her shoulder. “It will be fine. My family isn’t so bad.”

“I know,” she replied quickly. “Your family is great. I’m just not sure how it will work. I mean, I’m not even sure I should be eating there and then to bring my family, I don’t know, Tommy. You’re family is very close and very secretive and you just lost Ricky and I feel like I’m intruding. Now I’m going to be intruding with my entire family. It’s all happening so fast.”

“Penny, I’ve been staking out your house since you were ten. Glaciers move faster than we do.”

If you don't know what you want, you end up with a lot you don't. (Chuck Palahniuk)

“Why do you want to get away from here?”

“I love my brothers,” he said defensively. “I love my brothers and my father but I just need some distance.”

Penny nodded understandingly.

“I’ve always been part of this family and that has been my identity. We’re a family first and individuals second. Maybe that doesn’t make sense.”

“No, I think I understand.”

“What about you? What do you do?”

Penny’s cheeks flushed. “I’m in high school.”

“No kidding.”

“But just for another couple months then I graduate.”

“And what’s next?”

“I’m going to go to school. I want to be a teacher.”

“A teacher.” He popped his finger out of his mouth. “That’s a pretty principled calling.”

“No pun intended?”

He laughed. “Principaled – that’s... You’re pretty smart?”

She shrugged.

“So what are you doing with Tommy?”

“What about Tommy?” he asked re-entering the room followed by Vincent, Tony, and Senior.

“Just asking this intelligent young woman what she’s doing with a screw up like you?”

We gotta get out of this place. (The Animals)

Tommy brought Penny to his house. It was less sombre but only slightly so. Only Rider was in the kitchen, which was a rarity because that was where everyone was normally congregated.

Rider looked up from his book with a nod.

“Where is everyone?”

“Out back somewhere,” he shrugged. Rider was reading his way out of that place.

“What are you reading?” Penny asked politely.

“Thermodynamics and the Physics of Space Travel.”

“Wow, sounds like a nice light read.”

Rider smiled.

“Hey, you two talk for a second,” Tommy instructed clasping her arms in his fists for a split second as he moved by. “I’m going to go see what’s up.”

Penny nodded and paced to the table, taking a seat across from Rider. She noticed the powdery white bowl next to him. He ran his finger around the edge in a circular motion then touched his tongue.

“You’re eating icing sugar from the bowl?” Penny was appalled.

Rider laughed. “It’s really quite good.”

He licked his finger and dug it into the white powder then into his mouth again.

“Try it.”

“No,” she said with furrowed eyebrows. “Your spit is in there now and it’s disgusting to eat icing sugar from the bowl.”

“Have you ever tried it?” He paused. “That’s what I thought. So how would you know?”

“I’m sweet enough.”

Rider laughed. He nudged the bowl toward her and she cautiously dipped her finger in.

“No, you have to lick your finger first so it will stick.”

Penny tried this method. Then she wrinkled her mouth and slapped her tongue against the roof of her mouth a couple times.

“This tastes weird. And makes my mouth feel... kinda funny.”

“Maybe it’s because my spit is in the bowl,” Rider teased.

“Ew,” Penny cringed. “I don’t know why I listened to someone reading about thermodynamics for fun.”

“Well it’s not exactly for fun. I’m starting school in September. I’m studying aerospace.”

“Aerospace,” she repeated.

“You don’t have to sound so astounded. I’m not as dumb as I look.”

She laughed and watched his obsessive compulsive sort of pattern of circling the bowl and dabbing the white residue onto his tongue.

“Where will you go to school?”

“California. As far away as I can get from here.”

Because I know she'll always be the only girl for me. (The Beatles)

Penny went to school and when she walked out Tommy was waiting for her leaning against his black 1973 Cadillac Eldorado. He hadn’t slept, he hadn’t showered, but as he flipped his cigarette butt to the sidewalk, he noticed a girl then another then another all staring at him as if he were the king (of rock and roll, at least.)

He didn’t acknowledge them and this only fuelled their fire.

Penny walked toward him with a modest smile. He picked her up in a twirling embrace as exaggerated as the one that graced the front page of the paper when he got off the plane after the war. Penny picked up her books as he started toward the car.

“They won’t last a week.”

“A guy like that isn’t going to stay with her.”

“Who is she?”

“He's going to be mine.”

“What a car!”

“Who is that girl?”

“In your dreams, I’ll have him picking me up here by the end of the week.”

“Who is he?”

“He’s about to be mine.”

The girls didn’t realize the history they were facing; all they saw was a nice car, a hot guy, and a modest obstacle.

There's going to be the feeling that you missed something... that you didn't experience it at all. (Chuck Palahniuk)

Instead of bothering to go to his bedroom that night, Tommy stayed in the kitchen with his brothers and did heroin until dawn. Rider had built quite a tolerance since they had been separated.

Tommy slept for a few morning hours with his legs dangling off the too-hard, too-short sofa Rick’s girlfriend had purchased. When he emerged from his fleeting glimpses of rest, he went to the jewellery store.

Penny emerged from her bedroom with her school books under her arm.

“You were out late last night,” her mother commented cautiously.

“I was at Tommy’s.”

Her father tipped the morning paper away from his face but didn’t say anything.

“You know better than that Penny,” her mother scolded. “You still have school to attend to.”

“I know.”

Penny got a bowl of cereal and sat beside her father at the table.

“Be careful,” he told her sternly.

“I am,” she promised.

“Your sister comes home tonight for the weekend,” he mother said in a brighter tone. With a cup of English Breakfast tea, she joined them at the table.

“That’s nice.”

“She works so hard, it will be nice for her to get away from the hospital and spend the weekend at home.”

Penny nodded. Her noble sister, the nurse, had a new job and a new one room apartment and her mother was always pining for her to be home. She pretended to be proud and maybe she was but she always worried about her and how hard she worked. Most of all, Penny believed her mother worried that her sister would work so hard that she would never have time to meet a man and have a family. Penny, on the other hand, believed that working would be a beacon of hope to salvage her sister’s chances of procreation. In Penny’s mind the only way her sister would be able to keep a man in her life would be by staying away from him as much as possible.   

The loss doesn't go away, it just gets bigger the longer you look at it. (Rob Sheffield

Vincent lay on Ricky’s bed and let himself go numb. He was building immunity to the pain. He didn’t sob or even cry, he just let himself lie lifelessly in Ricky’s space.

The Girl, the enemy, entered.

“What the hell are you doing in here?”

Without reciprocating any of her anger he relayed the question back to her.

“This is where I sleep. That’s what I’m doing here.”

“Why?” Vincent asked calmly.

“Why?” she repeated. “Because it’s where I sleep.”

“Why?”

“Because I’m Ricky’s girl!” she yelled.

“You were.”

“What did you say?”

“You were. Ricky got no girls where he is. Not you, not anyone. The only thing Ricky got is a fulltime job shovelling fire into the furnace of hell. He got nobody and nobody got him.”

Vincent was eerily calm as he spoke.

She cried. She sunk to the floor and cried. “I’m Ricky’s girl,” she sobbed. “I’m his girl.”

Her hair was tangled and black mascara stained her ghostly white face as she struggled from the floor to the bed. On Ricky’s bed she collapsed and cried. Vincent didn’t cry anymore but Vincent wouldn’t be moved.  

The stars lean down to kiss you. I lie awake and miss you. (Owl City)

“How?” Senior said nothing more.

Tony told the story.

Vincent sobbed. Rick’s girl sobbed. Even Penny cried. Senior just shook his head all the while. Tommy, well, Tommy was breathing and that was the best thing he could figure to do.

When they were overseas Ricky was in charge and Vincent was second in command. If Ricky died, and he had, Vincent would have naturally been bumped up a spot but that was impossible now because Vincent was damaged beyond repair by the loss. Tony was too young. Rider wouldn’t even want to. Tommy would have to step up, it was the only thing he could see to do. Tommy would have to be the new Ricky whether he liked it or not.

He looked at Penny. She was just a girl. He didn’t think she was ready for this. She couldn’t stand by his side as he corrupted the world, or at less Philadelphia and surrounds.

He asked her to stay. He didn’t mean to but it was getting late and he was tired and he couldn’t imagine the thought of going upstairs and lying in his bed alone. He hadn’t slept in a room without his brothers for years. He hadn’t slept since Ricky died and this would be his first night sleeping without him sleeping on the other side of the room. He didn’t mean to ask her to stay, he didn’t want her to stay, but he didn’t want her to leave either and he certainly didn’t want to be alone. Maybe if she had understood how important it was to him she wouldn’t have said no or at least not said no so quickly. Penny, by no fault of her own, didn’t understand what it meant to feel lonely. Sure she missed people sometimes, namely Tommy, but the concept of loneliness eluded her. Perhaps that lack of comprehension was Tommy’s fault. He had made her a loner or maybe she had made herself a loner or maybe she just had a predisposition for lonesomeness.

When she said no, blankly and plainly, he pushed her. Something he hadn’t even meant to ask became an urgent request and he was almost amused by how easily she could decline.

He drove her home all the while he tried to convince her to let him turn back.

“I just got back and you can’t sleep next to me for a few dark hours?”

“If you want me to sleep next to you, you can show me a wedding ring.”

It's sadder as time goes by and you consider how much they've missed in your life. (Emily Giffin)

Heroin took on a new role in Tommy’s life when he returned to America, and so did Penny.

Penny’s parents had been at the airstrip with everyone else. Penny’s father shook Tommy’s hand and told him the country was indebted to him. He even consented to Penny spending time with the taboo boy.

The day Tommy returned Penny went to his father’s house for the first time and the circumstances couldn’t have been worse.

Penny had never seen their house before. It was tucked away in the trees. There was only one road in. It was wooded and winding. The woods turned into an open meadow and the road became barely visible as it was overrun by green grass. Not that anyone could lose their way because the titanic house at the base of the cliff that cut off the meadow would be impossible to miss.

Ricky’s girlfriend was living in the house now and she had added a woman’s touch with the money Senior had given her to decorate. Despite the expensive garnishes, the house was still empty. No matter what the budget Ricky’s girl didn’t have the class or the elegance to add any style to the residence. It would always be a boy’s house.

Nonetheless Penny was in awe of its grandeur: the Cadillac-dominated parking lot, the cherry oak floors, and the history of residents gone by echoing in the empty air. Yes, even while filled with marred patriots, the house still seemed empty.

Leaving never hurts as much as being left behind. (Nanci Griffith)

No one spoke as they drove back to the base. The only sound was Vincent's unnerving sobs. He was curled into the foetal position in the back. Tony and Tommy had just lost their brother before their eyes and all they could do was sit there in shock. Who would tell Senior? Or Rider? How could they fly across the world in the morning with Ricky’s body left behind? How could they abandon him? Where would he be buried? Why did he die? Why hadn’t they said goodbye to him or told him they loved him? They had never. They would never see him again. They would never be able to visit his grave or even know where his body rested. He would be kicked aside like garbage. How could a man who received so much respect during his life receive so little in death? Ricky was given a noble service at home in Philadelphia as any casualty of war would. He died fighting for this country’s supply of heroin. Nonetheless, heroin was derived from a German word meaning heroic and that was just what they said about him in the papers: “He was a heroic man who died so we could have life and have it more abundantly.” He was Jesus. This drug dealer whose body was desecrated and discarded was viewed as a selfless saint by the entire country. Somewhere in all that, Tommy believed there was some sort of poetic justice but there was nothing, absolutely nothing, that could lessen the pain.

The boys received a hero’s welcome when they stepped off the plane. When Tommy spotted Penny in the crowd he almost smiled. She was still so sweet and innocent. All his suppressed malice and anger were released. He pushed past everyone and took her into his arms and cried. Tommy, who had never let a tear trickle down his check in his life, cried with his entire body as he suspended Penny in the air. He held onto her as if he was holding on for life itself.

A reporter snapped a shot that made the front page of the local paper and was later picked up by a national paper. The picture made women from sea to shining sea smile and sigh for the romance of war.   

 “Ricky died.”

“What? No, Tommy, no.” She held him tighter and she cried with him – not for Ricky, for Tommy.

All life is, is 4 or 5 big days that change everything. (Beverly D'Onofrio)

“Shit!”

“Let’s get in the car, get ready to get out of here.”

Tony and Tommy turned. The second their backs were turned the storm of bullets started. They hopped in the truck and slammed the doors. When they looked out from behind the window Vincent had collapsed to his knees.

Ricky swayed and swayed and collapsed.

Walking nonchalantly by Rick, he went to Vincent. He pointed the gun at Vincent’s head. Vincent was crying, sobbing, and they couldn’t hear it but he called out to God. God, no! God, please!

Quickly Vincent made an ill-planned deal with the devil as the gun that had just killed his best friend was pressed against his temple.

Vincent was kicked and kicked, pulled to his feet, punched and punched, hit in the head with the gun and again, but that wasn’t what hurt most. When he was released on the condition of his promise to work something out to move the product allotted to them, he ran to the truck and while Vincent ran his partner loaded Ricky’s dead body with lead.  

Wouldn't it be great to stand at the edge and not worry about the fall? (Great Big Sea)

“What’s taking them so long?”

“Relax, it hasn’t been that long. It’s just the heat getting to you.”

“Something’s not right, Tommy. This shit shouldn’t take this long. All he has to say is that we’re out. The war ended, how do we get these shipments home now? We can’t. How long does it take to say that?”

“Relax, would you? You’re going to give yourself an anxiety attack.”

Vincent backed out of the building closest to them. Ricky followed, also back-first, with his hands in the air.

“Why is he raising the white flag?” Tommy asked.

“I told you something was up. I just wanna get out of this place. I just want to get back to Philly cheese steak, my father’s house, and a place everyone’s speaking Americano.”

Tommy slapped his little brother’s shoulder. “It’s the homestretch now, brother.”

Ricky and Vincent kept walking backwards. They were just a few feet from the truck when the boys seen why. Their partner in crime emerged from the pile of bricks he called an office with a machine gun locked and loaded.

“Shit!”

If we don't end war, war will end us. (H.G. Wells)

On the 30^th day of April 1975, after 19 years, 180 days, and up to two and a half million bodies in the ground: the Cold War ended. It was time to go home. The boys hadn’t been there for over 19 years, hell, Tony still hadn’t been alive for 19 years, but by God it felt like 19 years.

Ricky was nervous when he got the news.

“They’re not going to like this.” He kept saying that over and over again.

The boys all piled into an army van and they drove out to meet the men they generously called their friends. Even unwavering Ricky was terrified of them.

“They’re not going to like this.”

The gravel road patrolled by men holding machine guns stretched across the barren land to the abandoned nunnery affectionately named nơi hy sinh. The buildings were decrepit and the straw-coloured bricks were but rubble in places. The site was extensive, multiple buildings built by missionaries and locals but after a surge of violence destroyed the war-ridden region everyone moved on or under and now the new inhabitants have taken over.

There were still prayers but the tone was different. Good people seeking God’s holiness gave way for bad people who were lucky (or unlucky) enough to get a moment to call out to their maker before having their blood spilt for their sins. Aptly named, nơi hy sinh is loosely translated from Vietnamese to Place of Sacrifice.

The boys entered the heavily guarded grounds as they as they had so many times before, but they had never truly appreciated the name until then. Despite their service to their country and service to their father, none of them had known real sacrifice.

Ricky walked in to meet with the Vietnamese partners. Vincent was at Rick’s heels – as always. Tony and Tommy stood outside and waited. They pretended to be comfortable. They chatted with each other, leaned against the truck, and looked everywhere but at the machine guns. There was no amount of war that could make a man comfortable with a machine gun in his immediate proximity.  

All war is deception. (Sun Tzu)

Vincent and Ricky had a plan and the others were playing catch up.

“We need someone on the other side to receive the coffins. Senior needs help rounding out the operations at home. Rider has wanted to get out of here since day one. Everyone gets what they want.”

“I somehow don’t think Rider wanted a bullet in his leg,” Tony yelled.

“How else was he going to get sent home?” Vincent asked.

“You’re a general,” Tony yelled. “There’s no way a general can send a kid home? You had to shoot him?”

“And why couldn’t you two tell us? Why did you have to spring this decision on us with a gunshot? This isn’t minor details. This is a bullet in Rider’s leg! I thought we made decisions together. What happened?”

Rider went home but he was no happier there.

The war continued.

The world's a roller coaster and I'm not strapped in. (Incubus)

Sometimes after something traumatic happens everything moves in silent slow motion. That wasn’t the case that day. Everything moved really fast. Everything was really loud.

Tony tackled Vincent to the ground. Even though Rider was Tony's least favorite of his brothers, while he idealized Vincent; blood is thicker than water and Vincent’s blood was all over Tony’s fists. Vincent's gun was discarded on the ground. What are you doing? What the hell? What’s wrong with you?

Tommy was at Rider’s side as he lay on the ground clutching his bleeding leg.

Tommy pulled his younger brother off Vincent.

“Thanks,” Vincent said as Tommy pulled Tony to his feet.

Before Vincent had brushed the dirt off his uniform Tommy had punched him to the ground again. Tommy straddled Vincent’s body pinning him to the ground. Tommy clenched Vincent’s neck in his hands and tightened his grip. Squeaky grunts were met with a reddening face. Tommy was scared by how exhilarated he was to be killing a man, a man who had been a brother to him. He knew people died, not in that way that everyone knows people die, he had been hearing gunshots long before he went to war.

Tommy knew his father had killed before. He entered into this business with naivety but as the years rolled on he got closer to the action and began to realize his father had done a lot in his lifetime. The more Tommy knew the more afraid he became that he would become his father. In his heart he always assumed that of all the bad things he would do he would never kill a man, but there he was strangling the life out of one of his closest friends. Tommy would have gone through with killing Vincent had Rick not stopped him.

“Get off him,” Rick said firmly and pulled his brother off his best friend.

Tommy fell to the ground beside Rider.

“What the hell, Ricky?” exclaimed Tony.

“He had to shoot Rider,” defended Ricky as he picked Vincent up.

Tommy and Tony lost their cool. They yelled defensive derivatives of the same thing at Ricky.

“Shut up!” Ricky said and they did. Rick Junior like Rick Senior had stood on the right end of a loaded gun. Rick wasn’t well-liked but he was well-respected.

“Rider is going home.”

They looked from one to the other. Panic and perspiration consumed them. The hullabaloo had faded but nothing was resolved.