Prologue | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20A | 20B | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | 25-26 | 27 | 28-29 | 30 | 31 | 32 | 33 | 34 | 35-36 | 37 | 38A | 38B | 38C | 38D | 39 | 40 | 41 | 42-43 | 44-45 | 46 | 47 | 48-49A | 49B | 50 | 51 | 52 | 53 | 54 | 55 | 56 | 57A | 57B | 58-59| 60 | 61 | 62 | 63 | 64 | 65 | 66 | 67 | 68-69 | 70A | 70B | 71A | 71B | 72 | 73 | 74A | 74B | 75 | 76-77A | 77B | 78 | 79 | 80 | 81 | 82 | 83 | 84 | 85-87 | 88A | 88B | 89 | 90 | 91 | 92 | 93 | 94A | 94B
PART IV
IN THE DAY OF BATTLE
95
MARINA HAD FINALLY started to drop off into sleep when she heard him come in the back door. She was surprised, but prepared all the same. She rolled out of bed and grabbed her gun, planted her feet on the floor and, two-handed, pointed it at the bedroom doorway. The back door closed and locked. The refrigerator door opened and closed. His footsteps were heavy on the stairs, across the landing, into the bedroom.
He glanced at her as he stepped to the bed, turned, dropped on the edge, bent over, and hung his head.
Marina was surprised that he didn’t seem surprised, but she didn’t move.
“Do it,” he said wearily. “Just do it, Marina. Yanno, I got nothin’. I got no morals, got no heart, got no soul.” He paused. “No, I got those, but they’re black as tar. Don’t care ’bout much. Never cared about anybody after my family died and then Florence broke my heart—” Jealousy slammed Marina in the chest. “Only people I care about are two teenage girls, a baby, an’ a gigolo, an’ I didn’t start doin’ that till one o’ those girls gave me a reason. I got nothin’.” He paused. “No, I got somethin’.” He took a deep breath. “Marina, you made me wanna be a better man for the first time in my life. I thought I was gettin’ there, but I saw I really wanted to keep my life and be respectable. Now I don’t wanna keep that life anymore and … Marina, honest to God, just kill me ’cuz I don’t wanna see that look on your face ever again.”
Marina slowly lowered the gun. “What look?”
“Terrified. Cowering in front of me, like I’mma beat the shit outta you too.”
Marina bit her lip.
“But you still stood me down an’ … ” He cast her a bare glance over his shoulder and croaked, “How is she?”
“I don’t know,” Marina muttered, lowering the gun all the way. “You’d have to ask Dot.”
There was utter silence between them except the cicadas and frogs and the bare whistles of the sheers, and Dot shuffling around downstairs doing her stinky laundry because she couldn’t sleep and she couldn’t go home without getting in trouble. Things sounded normal.
“I’m curious about somethin’.”
Marina waited.
“I damn near killed your mama. You knew I was going to. You stopped just shy of askin’ me not to. You questioned why I laid a hand on my troublemakin’ customer, but swallowed my explanation. But you wouldn’t let me go after the one who sinned against you in the first place. What’s different?”
“Ethel did a really bad thing for a pure reason. Your customer was causing trouble and that was your business. Mother took my virtue.”
Trey stiffened a little and tilted one ear toward her. “Come a’gin?”
She thought and thought and thought. “I … uh, well … ” She knew Trey was too exhausted to move, so she put the gun on the table, wrapped herself tighter, and eased herself onto the very edge of the bed, her back to Trey. She took a deep breath.
“Mother punished me severely for something I don’t remember doing. That was bad enough, curled up there in the corner just like Ethel, getting beaten with a belt. The buckle. Crawling under the bed and hiding, bleeding. But she called me the most vile names while she was doing it. I did understand those, but I couldn’t imagine why she was saying them since I couldn’t possibly be in the family way because I hadn’t gotten married.
“It was when Sister Albright told me what I had to have done to be in the family way that I felt dirty. She was very kind and matter-of-fact. If Sister Albright had been the first one to figure it out and tell me, she wouldn’t have made me feel dirty. Yes, you took my virginity, but knowing that didn’t make me feel dirty because I don’t remember. Ethel didn’t make me feel dirty because she was trying to help; I just felt sorry for her because you didn’t love her back. It was Mother. She took my virtue.”
He released a long breath. “I understand that. Know why? Now, mind you, I ain’t makin’ excuses here an’ you got no reason to listen to me but I’mma talk an’ if you want me to shut up, you gotta kill me. Findin’ out you were drugged was like it happened to me too, an’ then I got to thinkin’ about it more an’ more an’ gettin’ madder an’ madder until I’s in a killin’ rage. I didn’t feel tricked, Marina. I felt … ”
He trailed off. Marina simply sat and watched herself twist her fingers in her lap, twirl her wedding ring that was too loose now that she wasn’t pregnant, to think about what he was trying to say but couldn’t. He was ashamed. So very many things shamed him.
“Raped,” he said low. “Too.”
Oh. She would have to think about that for a while. “You didn’t rape me, Trey,” she murmured after a bit. “But Ethel didn’t rape you, either.”
More silence. Then he said low, “If a man did what Ethel did, would you’ve saved him?”
Marina opened her mouth, but … nothing came out.
After a couple of moments, he drawled, “Yeah.”
His that’s-what-I-thought tone rankled. “If Gio had drugged me out of loyalty and respect for you,” she asked equally quietly, “would you have killed him with your bare hands?”
Silence.
For a long time.
“Yeah,” she said.
The mantel clock chimed five.
Five fifteen.
Five thirty.
“Marina,” he murmured.
“Mm?”
“Thank you.”
Marina’s mouth tightened and her eyes stung. She gulped. “You’re welcome.”
95
That was a quick resolution.
Not a criticism. Just a comment.
It felt authentic.
It’s not really resolved yet. That’s just the “immediate” aftermath.
Ah, ok.
Now both have made their confession we wait for their penance and absolution.
Now I wait, another week
Thanks, Moj
That is some very deep pain being shared there, and boundaries that neither of them had really contemplated.
Yes. And he didn’t know he felt that way till he said it.
I hesitate to bring this up because of the personal nature and sensitivity of it, but it was something I wasn’t aware of before hand and it really speaks to the evil of the messaging the pro-choice left uses.
If your prog friends say that women can’t get reproductive care in backwards conservative states, tell them where exactly they can put that bullshit. We went to the hospital today to get “reproductive care” in rural Missouri. Our OB is a Christian, as is her primary nurse (she goes to our church), as are we. When we found out that we miscarried, my wife was immediately offered the pill and the “surgery”, even here in conservative rural Missouri where abortion is banned. To be clear, the pill is the abortion pill, and the “surgery” is a surgical abortion. The only difference is that the baby is already dead, so you’re not killing anything. You’re accelerating the natural miscarriage process to avoid infection or other possible issues.
Wife ended up on the situation where things weren’t progressing as expected naturally, so it was either deal with the increasing risk of complications, or use one of those options to force the issue. My wife was legit torn up about it, especially because she didn’t want to lend any legitimacy to tools used for murdering babies. However, at the end of the day, they are just tools and can be used for horrific ends or, in our case, to reduce risk without actually harming anybody.
Anyway, my wife has been fielding question after question from her prog friends and family members who are flummoxed. They had no idea that women aren’t actually sex slaves here in rednecklandia, forced to carry their dead babies to term to satisfy the patriarchy. The narrative they’ve been fed is causing some acute cognitive dissonance.
Fuck the left and those Molech worshippers who use moms who miscarry as a pawn to feed their blood lust. The only “reproductive right” they don’t have is baby murder.
I am so sorry, Trashy.
Thanks Moj. Sorry to darken the tone of the thread. I don’t intend to point it at us as a “woe is me” situation, but our recent experience has really exposed a lot of what I suspected but couldn’t confirm about the left’s rhetoric around abortion.
Did they tell you it’s specifically called a “surgical abortion”? Usually, it’s a dilatation and curettage to remove the “products of conception.” I suspect the pill is just to prepare the uterus to make it easier to do. If I were you, though, I wouldn’t think of it as a “surgical abortion.”
I saw a thing on Twitter…I wish I’d saved it. It was a comparison of the procedure codes between an elective abortion and a dilatation and curettage for a missed abortion (miscarriage). They are considered two WILDLY different procedures, per billing codes.
I did save it! https://ibb.co/7J2qfVQ
Did they tell you it’s specifically called a “surgical abortion”?
No, it was a D&C. My understanding is that it’s functionally similar to what happens in a surgical abortion, in that the cervix is “cranked open” (a technical term 🤣) and a tool is used to loosen and remove the embryo/remains/etc and some portion of the uterine lining.
I certainly don’t see the two as morally equivalent, and aside from some irrational fears around “what if they messed up and the baby is alive”, we made the choice without any heartburn once it became clear that intervention was pretty much necessary. The choice won’t eat at us in any way. Obviously it’ll take a while to process the broader situation.
You and family have my condolences. That’s some tough stuff.
Sorry to hear about the miscarriage.
I hope you know that I can wish you and your family all the best
without agreeing that the lies of your enemies justify cops under our beds or in our doctors’ offices
cops under our beds or in our doctors’ offices
I 100% agree with that, so long as people aren’t getting murdered there. However, there’s a whole lot of middle ground between that particular dystopia and the “buy four abortions at Planned Parenthood, get one free” dystopia that is only mildly more egregious than our current reality.
Condolences, trashy. Been there.
So very sorry to hear, Trashy. My best to you and your wife.
My same sentiments to you and Mrs Trshy as well. And doubly so for sharing with us internet strangers.
My sympathies to you and your family on your heartbreaking news.
Thank you for taking the time to share your story, because, as you describe, there are so many people who have a vested interest in keeping the rest of us in the dark about such matters. I appreciate you shining a little bit of truth through the lies and obfuscation.
Some dear friends of mine suffered through something similar. Just absolutely brutal.
I’m praying for you and the fam, trashy.
I’m really sorry for your loss, trshy.
My sincere sympathies to you and your family during this time.
Thank you for sharing that heartfelt story with us, because there are many people who have a vested interest in keeping us from knowing those grim details.
Deepest condolences to you and your wife.
Sorry trashy.
So sorry to hear it Trshmnstr. While I’m not religious, I can appreciate your annoyance at the pro abortion crowd, at least in some respects.
Honestly. Lifelong atheist. Who celebrates abortion? Who sanctifies that shit? Well, we know who.
Very sorry trashy. Personally I can’t even imagine what you guys are going through, I’m just so so sorry.
Sorry to hear this, Trshy. My best to your family.
Honest question for the pro-choice amongst us:
Do you really think that only religious people are against abortion? There are many thousands (millions?) of people like me who are against abortion because of Science™️. That’s a human with a beating heart in there.
Get the fuck back in the Zoom motherfucker!
+1
I’m weakly “pro choice”. Which means I’m also weakly “pro life”.
It’s obviously a bunch of cells early on. Then, at some point, it’s a human being. Science has no answers as to when that point is.
No easy answers there.
Sure, there’s plenty of room to argue about The Science. The burr under my saddle is that only religious people are against abortion.
I’m there too, and not for religious reasons.
OKOK!
Woke up, cant sleep.
Honest answer cuz I am bored.
Real things that exist in nature as separate entities have inherent attributes. We dont assign those attributes, we discover them. Rocks – naturally occurring, heavy, hard, no particular shape or size.
Other things do not exist in nature, only in our minds. We define them as a collection of certain attributes. A mountain – certain attributes exist in this place so we arbitrarily draw a line around that place and say “That is a mountain”. However, the mountain as a separate entity exists only in our minds. You cant go put one foot on the mountain and one foot not on the mountain. Seems silly but we define the mountain into existence because it is useful to us.
Other things exist only in our minds. Sets for example are not a collection of certain attributes existing in one place, they are a category of disparate things that have a one or more attributes in common.
Lastly are things that exist only in our minds having attributes that we arbitrarily assign to them such as institutions.
Seeing this is key to solving the old ‘inherent rights’ problem which I am sorely remiss in not writing an article on.
If a tree falls in the woods does it make a sound? <—- not a legitimate question or source of argument. Simply agree on definitions of the words and move on to the next thing.
Now let us define what a person is. A collection of certain attributes we assign or a real thing existing naturally with inherent attributes? I think a person is like a mountain – certain attributes when taken together in a certain place constitute that particular kind of thing.
Until we resolve that by agreeing on what those attributes are we will never resolve either the abortion or inalienable rights disputes.
Religious people tend to have different ideas about that than non-religious people do but there is a Venn diagram with overlap.
Now we can toss in revealed preferences. ‘Soft’ pro-choice to me means people who, when you suggest the most reasonable humane bounds you can come up with agree with you. There may be some minor quibbling over the details but all in all both parties are amenable to ‘reasonable and humane as possible’.
The reveal is when you suggest the most humane rules conceivable some people start foaming at the mouth and give hysterical screeds and redirect the discussion. “AAAAAAAgle ARGLE BARGLE BLEEP! YOU HATE WOMEN YOU WANT TO TAKE AWAY THEIR RIGHTS PUT THEM IN CHAINS! AAAAAAAAHHHHHH!.
Ok then. They have just revealed that they have no concern for humane or moral considerations. They are eugenicists who want to be able to cull undesirables without restriction. Babies today, you and myself tomorrow. That thinking is how we end up with death camps and mass graves.
You woke up bored…. and dark! Whoah… your bored took a dark turn there.
And it is one I agree with.
Bonus, I love Crowder’s interviews with random people at an abortion rights rally. Some were violently opposed to the thought of any restrictions, right up to delivery.
But some supported heartbeat bans, which is way earlier than pretty much any proposed legislation except the total ban folks.
And you are right, without a definition of “human life” accepted by all, there cannot be agreement.
Well, this is interesting
https://x.com/JoeyMannarinoUS/status/1819397806202789985?s=19
Megan Thee Stalion, who helped Kamala get the first true crowd for a Democrat in 7 years, is campaigning for Kamala in her concerts.
Last night, in a profanity-laced message, she addressed those who criticized her “popping it for Kamala” by saying she supports her because she “want a ceasefire”, “support woman’s rights” and is tired of the “high ass gas prices”.
This perfectly reflects my experience in the black community over the last 35 years. I had a coworker who was pretty much a straight Rush Limbaugh conservative. Socially and fiscally conservative…. but black …. so he was loudly a Democrat.
One day I pointed out his agreement with the republican right, issue by issue. Dude was to the right of Bush, firmly.
And equally firmly opposed to acknowledging any such fact.
So, pro-abortion is the only line that is actually a thing for Kamala, and other than rhetoric, I don’t think there is much difference between the 2 candidates on this issue. (I kinda doubt Ms Thee Stalion understands the actual legal positions or what judicial appointments are really all about)
It is kind of amazing how the DNC have managed to hoodwink a large voting block into completely ignoring almost all of their policy interests and pulling that straight ticket for them.
I also had an employee who was a high end software manager and mixed race. He was to my right on most issues (except sex and marriage. He had been abandoned after the birth of his second kid and raising an infant and a 2.5 year old on his own kinda made him bitter about the whole subject). Great guy. Smart guy. Military guy. Fiscal conservative.
Unwavering yellow dog democrat.
On abortion, it’s “This doesn’t affect men since they can’t get pregnant, so how dare they have any say about women’s bodies!”
On almost every other issue — and this is one of the things driving the TTTT movement — it’s “How dare you suggest there’s any difference between men and women!”
With apologies to the Ladyglibs here, but while the feminists claim women leaders would be more “nurturing”, the result disproportionately seems to be that the women leaders we get are the smothering women. Look at that kindergarten teacher from the “White Women for Harris” call.
I’m pretty sure this is 2024 where men *can* get pregnant.
This should be interesting. The plea deal for the 9/11 suspects has been pulled.
They are implying that the military prosecutor exceeded his authority.
The administration is claiming they had no involvement with the plea deal.
Anyone else believe a 20 year old case of this magnitude that has yet to be tried was being plead out without approval from on high?
https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c7202593k0xo
No way, they heard the backlash and reneged on the deal.
Opinions wanted:
Was this article written by AI?
https://athlonsports.com/olympics/victor-wembanyama-trending-after-intense-exchange-with-nba-star-at-olympics
Yep. Certainly didn’t sound like what sports guy would have written. OTOH could have been written by staff.
First full day of my vacation!
Yeehaw!
🌞☕😃
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=Ikyq57-GIAc
🎶🎶
Enjoy the fishing!
Good morning, Sean and 4(20)!
Enjoy the break, Sean!