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If I were to guess, I’d imagine they took Andrew to Boss Harold before anyone else and the rumors around Golgotha seemed to support this supposition; the Bosses enjoyed their personal retribution away from the eyes of citizens, maybe it was talking or maybe more, and although there were whispers of the boy being strung up on the wall or maybe he’d be violated in the stocks for all to see, I imagined that the council I held with Boss Harold might’ve had something to do with that never materializing. When I was allowed to the boy’s cell, it was dark, and his face was bruised and the bandaging I’d applied to his severed wrist had been removed probably for amusement. The room was small and there were no windows and only a single doorway let out into the hallway which contained other cells and further, near the exit, there was the office of wall men. The guard that’d let me in locked the door behind me and Andrew sat on a metallic cot without cushioning, and he stared at the grimy floor through swollen eyes.
“Hello,” he said. And I was taken aback by the comment because he spoke it as quickly as he might passing a person in the street. He'd been through so much that the word was abrupt, skittish. I nodded and moved to him, reaching for his arm where he’d been nearly fatally wounded. It was infected. Without fighting me, he allowed me to tend to it without even a question; I wiped it and applied salve. Once it was cleaned and rewrapped and only after I’d settled on the cot beside him, he spoke again, “I heard stories about the cells, but I never thought they’d smell.”
I withdrew a handful of antibiotics, and he took them without putting them to his mouth. “You should have them,” I said, “You might lose the whole arm if not.”
“I might lose my life.”
“Maybe not,” I offered a grim smile and water with for the pills. “You’re alive still.”
“How much longer though?” He took the medicine and grimaced hard. The boy looked older than he was. “It smells like blood here. I can smell the people that’ve been here before.”
I patted him on the back and removed myself from the cell and he did not call after me, not even to ask for the return of his hand and I hoped that I could stave off whatever tortures the Bosses might have in store for him.
It’d been two days since I’d returned with Dave and Andrew and quickly after our arrival, I’d tried departing from the man and hoped he’d drop whatever revenge he believed I could assist him with, but it was to no avail for he attended everywhere with me since our return to Golgotha. Although he’d not been allowed to enter the cells alongside me, he was waiting for me outside as I stepped through the wall men’s office and into the noonday sun; I deftly plucked a pre-rolled cigarette from my pocket and tried at lighting it but before I’d even gotten the chance, he was there at the stoop of the office, pestering, “We should go somewhere quiet,” he said.
“What do you take me for exactly?” I asked while maintaining eye contact with the flame off a match.
“You’re capable enough. You could be a hero. I’d do it with you. We could scrounge up a handful of people and change things. We really could.” Dave was casting sidelong glances at those that passed us in the dirt street just off the stoop, but nary one seemed to care about our conversation.
“Leave it.”
“I won’t.”
I sighed.
He put a hand on my shoulder, but I shrugged it off.
Felina’s was a structure partially built from ancient shipping containers directly in the heart of the hydroponics towers in the center of town; the chicken shit smell from the base of the towers came with nauseating stagnation and could make a passerby sick, but upon entering Felina’s, the smell subsided and was replaced with the smell of body sweat. The older barwoman stood behind the counter and me and Dave took up on the far corner where we sat around an old card table, using crates as chairs; no one else was there—the smell of the hydro towers probably had some hand in that.
Dave took in close to me so that I could feel the moisture off his breath, “I’ve been talking to a few others over at the towers and they feel the same way I feel—but with you—well without you I don’t think I’d want to do it.”
“No, please go on without me,” I slanted my body across the table to push my face away from Dave’s; with me positioned with my back against the wall, I spied Felina beyond the counter, arms across her chest and watching us with an air of suspicion. She came to our table, slowly with her club foot and upon reaching us, she used our table for mild support with her big hands and greeted us without excitement.
Dave asked for water and her gaze shifted to me and I dismissed her, and we were alone till she limped back over with a pitcher and glass and Dave drank it greedily while Felina watched on from beyond the counter—her eyes suspicious but pretty blue too. She kept the haft from a dismembered axe behind the counter and was known to throttle unruly patrons with it.
Although some might have called Felina’s a bar, it was just short of it because of the rarity of spirits—besides, it was the upstairs brothel portion that the establishment owed to its popularity. Anyone might brave the smell from the street for companionship and if the noises from the rusted overhead support beams were anything to measure, the clientele was content indeed. A man descended from the stairs by the bar, gave a brief nod to Felina then to us and disappeared through the front door; a waft of the outside air rushed in, and Dave scrunched his nose.
“It’s a funny thing, I’ve passed by here all the time, but I don’t think I’ve been inside since before—” he paused, “Well, since before anyway.” He took a drink of water and rubbed his palms against his cheeks. “I know someone that works underground and could get us some gunpowder.”
I merely laughed at this. “Gunpowder, huh?”
“Well sure. The Bosses have reserves in the basements. We could blow them sky high.”
“More likely that you’d blow your hands off.”
“What’s it going to take to convince you?”
I thought, “Could you promise no one would die?”
Dave seemed baffled at the question. “Who cares?”
“These things hardly ever happen quietly—or without collateral. How’s this? Could you promise that no innocents get caught in stray fire?”
“Yes.”
“Then you are as ill prepared as I’d imagined.”
“What’s that mean?”
“The meek are intended to inherit, but many will die before all that.”
“What?”
“Nothing. I wish you’d leave it be.”
Another patron stumbled down the stairs, a scrawny tall man with a thin beard came charging into the chamber without clothes and a voice followed him, crying loudly, “Sonofabitch tried choking me!” A pair of arms and legs came stumbling down after—the source of the cries. There was a topless woman, a belt secured around one of her wrists and a pink mark around her throat. The naked man protested and put up his hands as the woman swung the arm with the belt and whipped at him with it, striking across the forearm he’d shielded himself with.
Felina moved carefully from around the counter, raised the haft, then brought it down across the man’s back. He stumbled to his knees, pleading. The barwoman raised the weapon once more and the sound was like wood against wood as it met the man’s head and his body was taken to the ground completely, perhaps dead, perhaps unconscious. The two women lifted the man out the door and Felina spat through the opening. Outside wind came again and Dave scrunched his nose once more before the door shut. The topless woman removed the belt from around her wrist, tossed it to the floor, then secured an arm across her chest before hurrying upstairs.
“So, gunpowder?” I asked Dave.
He nodded and took another drink of water while eyeing Felina as she took herself back to the counter and stowed the makeshift club into whatever place she kept it. “Yeah.”
“Go for it then and leave me out of it.” I fiddled with my thumbs across the table. “I’ll even make you a deal for when you come running to me for help later. If you blow your fingers off, I’ll try and help you find them. How’s about that?”
“I’ll wear you down.”
Another gust of wind came from the far door and I half expected to see the man that’d been removed there in the doorway, standing on his feet and ready for another round of punishment, but there was no one there in the hollow spot; as my gaze drifted from person-face level, I saw a medium sized mutt there in gray fur, pushing the door in with its nose and then sliding the rest of its starved body through—each of its yellowy sad eyes peered in and I could not tell the breed but Dave lifted himself from his seat and Felina went to the dog too.
“No dogs,” stated the woman.
Dave, the indomitable sweetheart that he was knelt to the dog’s face and touched its snout; it licked his hand and Dave said to Felina, “He’s not mine, but have you got some water for him?”
“No dogs inside. I don’t like repeating it.”
“Fair enough,” said Dave, “I don’t know who he—” he froze and then examined the rear of the dog before petting the dog on the head, “She belongs to, but I’ll take her outside. Just. Please some water, won’t you?”
The barwoman first drummed her fingers against her leg then went to the counter and I noticed Dave flinch as she reached under there, but she came back with a bowl and he took it and ushered the dog out; as he exited, he called to me, and I sighed and moved with him.
Remaining in the street was the man that’d been tossed out, face up, half-opened eyes, and flies buzzed about, and I touched him with my foot, but he didn’t move. Blood leaked from his ears. “Dead,” I said.
Dave took the dog from the body around to the side of the building and the feces smell was strong with the hydro towers, but he sat the water down and the dog went at it quickly, without restraint and spilt half before the man went to steady it with his hand; he knelt by the dog and pushed a shoulder against the wall of the brothel.
“There you go,” I told him, “You’ve found someone dumb enough and maybe loyal enough to follow through with your little gunpowder plan. Strap a handful of dynamite to him and watch him go boom in the Boss’s faces.” I genuinely did try it as a joke.
“You can be very mean,” said Dave.
Once the bowl was dry besides dog spit, he returned it to Felina, reentering briefly, and it was just me and the dog and the dog looked up at me and I turned away while its voice whined in the back of its throat and I took a piece of hardtack from my pocket and tossed it on the ground—the dog went after it, assuredly snapping up dirt in the process. Then the creature made a dry and throaty sound from swallowing too quickly, but moments after the thick cracker was gone. It licked my hand gently, and I scratched its chin and Dave returned and upon seeing me with the dog, he gave me a look and then brought himself to the height of the dog in a hunker.
“Hey there,” he said to it, “Someone’s beat you up pretty bad, huh?” It was true; scars stood out in places where the dog had no fur.
In response, the weathered mutt hoisted its forepaws onto his knees and pushed its nose into his.
“Yeah, girl,” he took one of the dog’s ears between his forefinger and thumb and rubbed it gently and the animal looked up, sad eyed, “What’s a good name for you?”
“Dog-meat?” I proposed.
Dave shook his head. “What sort of sick joke is that?” but he was smiling, “No. I’ll come up with something to call her. Isn’t that right?” He asked the dog, massaging the face of the animal with his thumbs; the dog stared dumbly at him. “Maybe a Beth or a Patty might suit you. How do you like them?”
The dog licked his face but couldn’t speak.
“Well,” I said, “It’s a shame it got you, you’ll pick a person name for it and that’s strange. Why not call her Mary if you want a person name?”
“Bah,” said Dave, rising to a full stand; momentarily, even with the other folks passing us in the street, he took a moment to see the dead man we’d passed on our way out of Felina’s and for a moment he remained quiet. “I’ll come to you again Harlan. Maybe when I’ve got more of a plan. I only hope you’ll listen to the stuff I’ve said about it. I really do. I really hope you’ll be on the right side of this thing.”
“Sides are overrated.”
Dave put a hand on my shoulder, “Of course,” he nodded, “Whatever you say.”
He left with his new friend—the dog following him traced from left to right close behind Dave and I watched him take off and around the nearest hydro tower and I was alone on the street and evening wouldn’t be far away, so I took to home while staring at my moving feet and speaking to no one. A few people along the way tried nodding at me or saying a small greeting here or there, but I was absorbed in my own head, and nothing took me from it once I got going. Maybe that was one of the reasons I enjoyed the wastes; there were no pretenses out there and with the constant thought of death there was no other thing to think about than each passing moment. I could not shut my thoughts up. I could ramble more about the motivations of a scavver, but I don’t think I should—leave that for someone that cares.
Upon taking the catwalks where I could look out on a swatch of Golgotha with the sun beating down and the constant hum of people going about their business, I was frozen on the railing and wishing I’d taken my own life and wishing that Dave had not found me out there; maybe if I was faster or smarter or better in whatever way that mattered.
I pushed into the door into my small abode and cool blood pushed through my body on seeing the robed girl there on my mattress, holding a shotgun with its barrel angled directly at me; she donned a flowy mess of dresses and kept her head wrapped in garb so that only her eyes shone through, but her arms stuck from the mess of cloth and I could see they were skinny with long scab marks like a blade had drawn across the flesh.
“Harlan?” asked the girl.
“Is that mine?” I nodded at the pump-shotgun in her hands. The slowness of the world was gone, and I could think again; if things were different, I’d have been a dead man, but it was unloaded, and I knew it.
“It was hanging on the wall—I don’t know how to use the thing anyway. I don’t know what I was doing with it,” she said, “You just scared me, and I didn’t know who you might’ve been.”
“This is my place.”
She laid the shotgun on the bed and unwrapped her face; it was Gemma, “You were with Andrew.”
“I was.”
“You said he was dead.”
I brought in air slowly through my nose. “I did.”
“You lied.”
I nodded, letting the air come out.
“Why?”
“I needed to find you.”
“But you found us both then, I guess.”
“Not on purpose.” A thought occurred to me, “Does you father know where you are right now?”
She shook her head; although rest had done her good, there was still a fair amount of fatigue present on her. “I snuck out.”
“Would’a though you learned your lesson on that front.”
“Is Andrew okay? No one will tell me anything about it.”
“He’s locked up right now, but he is alive. For how long? I don’t know. I figured your pop paid a visit to him already—wouldn’t you know about that?”
She shook her head again. “Woo,” Gemma slumped onto the side of my mattress and gathered the robes around her, “I’m feeling faint.”
I moved to the bed and gathered the shotgun, putting it back on the hooks in the wall. “You shouldn’t break into people’s homes.”
Cupping her brow in a hand so that I could only see her mouth and the bottom of her nose, she said, “I just needed to know he was alive. These past days I’ve been so worried about him. I knew you told me he was dead, but I knew you were a liar too. So, I had bad thoughts about what might’ve happened to him out there. If what happened to me was anything to go off.” Her voice broke for a moment and then she pulled her hand from her face and blinked a few sudden times. “I just.”
“I get it. You love the boy.”
She nodded without looking at me.
“So, beg your dad to let him go.”
“Everyone’s so mad at him. It’s funny that everyone’s so mad at him, but it was my idea, and they all treat me like a darling little flower. Like I couldn’t have been the one with the idea of running away. I had more reason to run than he ever did.”
“You should leave.”
“I don’t want to. Can’t you see that’s what I’ve been saying? Judge all you like. Call me rich all you like, but I can tell you this: I don’t feel like it.” Gemma grabbed the edge of the bed as her head wavered on her shoulders. “Dizzy spells are awful.” She shook her head. “Like no sickness ever.” Her eyes locked on mine. “Help me.”
“I’ve already tried convincing them not to kill him.” Taking a pause, I thought to add, “And I personally saw to his injuries. Please go and leave me be.”
“Oh, but you’ve asked for it,” she said, “You put yourself in the business of it.”
“Look. All’s I wanted was to save you if I could and get the water running again. That’s it. Now go.” I put my arm up to wave her out the door and she stood to make her way there, catching herself on the frame, then out on the catwalk railing before turning and looking at me over her shoulder.
“Bastard.” she said.
“Yes.” The door shut between us, and I took myself to sitting on the bed’s edge and reminiscing over how Dave reminded me so much of Jackson. Jackson was a real tough one; whatever happened he always kept a cool head (so I reckon him and Dave would be different in that way) and the idea of being a hero was so big for him. It’s a curious thought: whether Dave would have such ideas if hadn’t been for the tragic loss of his family.
The shotgun sat on there on the wall, and I took it and looked over it, putting the stock in my left hand then my right and laid it across my legs; the woven strap on it had gone thin so that the place I’d once worn it over my shoulder was mostly threadbare. I moved to the cabinet by the sink where I kept a few essentials and in the very back there was an old box of shells—it was a surprise they still seemed good, but with old ammo you never could tell, and the shells were just as likely to fire true as they might be to never send pellets from the barrel. I took a knife and began whittling into a shell I’d plucked from the box. Pellets spilled between my feet as I sat on the bed and they rolled across the floor and then I found the gunpowder and rose again, sprinkling it onto the cabinet top into a neat pile. Dave said he had a fella’ he knew that worked in the underground—the sort of person that could get him all the gunpowder he needed. Was he familiar with its destructive force; had he ever fired a gun? He promised me no one innocent would die and I knew that was a lie and there’s surely a piece of him that knew it was a lie just as well.
It was just then as I took a forefinger and thumb and pinched up a bit from the gunpowder splat that I remembered a thing that Jackson told me all the time when he thought none of the others were listening. The gunpowder rained from my fingertips as I rubbed them together and I sniffed the place where they’d become sooty, taking in a smell I’d not smelled in a long time. Jackson would say, “Whoever fights monsters should be sure that he don’t become a monster.” It wouldn’t be for a long time—after I’d visited the libraries in Alexandria or Babylon (take your preference)—till I realized it was a quote that Jackson stole from some guy named Neet-chee. It seemed like a good thing to adhere to, and it was certainly something I wasn’t good at keeping with and if I couldn’t then there was little certainty that Dave would keep to it either. Maybe I had become a monster; morally dubious anyway.
Jackson was a hero, and he was dead as was Sibylle as was Billy as was John and all of them. We’d tried heroing and it got all of us dead. Almost all of us.
I hung the shotgun on the wall and left it there and swept the gunpowder into the floor with a flat palm where the pellets were and chucked the box of old shells into the cabinet again.
Ringing of bells came from the hall of the Bosses and it was time for a display. Denizens gathered in the front square by the gates and awaited while they trotted out Andrew; perhaps the words I’d passed to Boss Harold rang hollow after all. The Bosses were there just as always, drinking their wine on the platform, and Maron was out front with his wall men in the semicircle of gathered Golgotha residents. Of the population, only a hundred or two gathered for this poor boy’s execution. The guards had, at some point after my departure, removed the bandage on his empty wrist and he looked more sickly in the face than before and his cheeks were swollen and he wept, seemingly not from the terror of it but from the skin around his eyes having been so damaged; tears came through swelled eyelids and a wall man kept him by the elbow and Maron marched to the boy and lifted the boy’s face with his hand to look into it and maybe he whispered something to him.
I weaved through the crowd, moving to the steps that led to the stage where the Bosses stood with their foods and wines and their plenty and upon approach, I was stopped by a wall men, but upon catching Boss Harold’s eye, he told the guard to let me through and I took the stairs and from the platform, I could see over the crowd—Dave was far in the rear of those gathered, totally disconnected from the others for he hunkered by a set of crates, patting the head of the dog we’d found just earlier in the day. For a moment, I wished I was there with him and not on the stage at all.
“Dear boy!” Boss Harold shouted at me over the excited jeers of the others, “It’s so good to see you again. You are quite the hero, and it’s always good to be in the company of those.”
I nodded at him and within a flash, he’d slammed his cup of wine into my hand, telling me to drink, and only moments passed before his own cup was replaced by a nearby servant. “We spoke about this?” I tried.
His face was red, and I could just make out the miniscule veins vibrant along the corners of his nose; the man was far gone drunk. “That boy’s been a thorn in my side for too long, so I know you understand it when I say that he needs punishment. I took all that you said into account,” his words slurred, and the sweet sick came off him in a breath of hot air when he pulled me in, resting his ear on my shoulder. “Nobody dies today, but ‘spare the rod and spoil the child’,” the Boss paused. “You’re not a father yourself, are you?”
I shook my head.
“Ah! Then you might not be familiar with that proverb required in bringing a child up in this world.” Boss Harold laughed. “I’d never take my sweet Gemma out in the square like this, but God there’s been times I’ve wanted it. ‘Spare the rod’.” He repeated. “But we’ve something a fair bit more interesting than a rod for that boy.” Boss Harold swayed on his feet and took the fist containing his cup of wine, pointing with his index finger at the open place by the wall where Maron and Andrew and the wall men were. “Speaking of!” Boss Harold was giddy, and he took a magnificent gulp from his cup, throwing his head far back. “You’re a learned man, yes?”
“What?”
“You know how to read? Maron said something about your reading. That’s a rare quality! I’d love to talk about books with you sometime. I’ve my own personal collection.”
The wall men stripped Andrew of his clothes then threw them to the ground and a gasp escaped the audience and the boy shouted and Maron moved to a nearby bucket and reached into the mouth of the container, coming back to a full stand; a whip was coiled around his arm. The Bosses didn’t even look on. The punishment was for the benefit of Boss Harold, and not even he looked on. He jabbered on about how he’d like to speak with me over an old philosophy called Objectivism then he went on about how he’d learned long ago the greatest achievement of man was his own happiness and I listened to the drunk man and when the whip broke skin the first time, I’m sure Andrew felt every bit.
Blood exploded in violent dew off his back and the crack of the whip struck the boy till he couldn’t stand and then several times more. Splatter reached onlookers each time Maron lifted the whip over his head, and it was only once the boy stopped moving that the Boss Sheriff swaggered over to inspect him; Andrew had fallen face down and Maron took his boot to the boy’s side so that the boy rolled onto his back and seconds passed without movement and even Boss Harold quit with his talking. The prone body just lay there and for a moment Andrew looked like the body I’d seen earlier out front of Felina’s. Then the boy spasmed and gasped air and Maron shouted about how he was still alive before giving the toe of his boot to Andrew’s ribs.
“What a show,” said the Bosses—what a show indeed.
The crowd dispersed in clumps, taking back to their jobs or leisure and I left the platform only after agreeing that Objectivism sounded good and Boss Harold laughed and stumbled in pivoting to take on in conversation with the other Bosses and I briefly imagined giving him a nudge, so he’d fall off the stage, but refrained from doing so.
When I met the boy lying in the dirt there, there was me and Dave moved in too and Maron had taken to his station where there was a table by sandbags, and he was engrossed in a game of solitaire; it seemed the man was totally unfazed by the justice he’d dealt. There was a time when that body could’ve been a hero and yet there he was, poisoned.
I called out to the Boss Sheriff, “Ain’t you going to put him back to his cell?”
Without even looking over, Maron swept his mustache with his fingers and waved me off, “Harold was real clear on letting the boy out of custody once it was done.” He lifted his cowboy hat and scratched his head while looking at the cards on the table then he laughed. “He’s a free man. I’ve heard that was your meddlin’ that did it.”
I moved to the boy and snatched up the clothes they ripped from him and Dave, not saying a word with his new mutt by his side, helped me to return some dignity to the boy.
We took him to my small apartment and washed him and tended over him while he lay in my bed.
Gemma came soon after Andrew had been draped in a sheet—she was there in disguise as she’d been earlier and upon me opening the doorway, she began to ask me if the boy was with me. I merely stepped aside, and she rushed to Andrew’s side; if he was aware of her presence, there was no way to tell.
“They killed him.” She’d taken to her knees to be nearer his level. “Oh. Oh, he’s dead.” She touched him and he shivered at the touch. Gemma removed the wrappings of cloth around her head and looked at her sweetie closer and she put a hand to her mouth. “They took his hand!”
“No,” said Dave, “He’s going to live.” The man looked to me and I shrugged. “Yeah,” his voice didn’t sound sure, “He’ll live.”
I moved to the catwalk and Dave came with me, the dog following behind him—the timid mutt looked over the edge of the catwalk to the city below then stepped away and returned to my room. When Dave took up beside me, leaning over the railing, and the sun hit his face just so, he looked exactly like Jackson and maybe that was why when he raised eyebrows then cut his eyes at me with a question—the question was everything and I finally nodded.
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RoyalRoad
Neovel

Today's the day. I'm new here but, I'm going to try my best to get this out, as I have been browsing this thread for a few weeks now yet, have been exmo for approximately 15 years. I have been aware of reddit for some time and would some times listen to reddit comps on YT. I knew that based off of how deep I have delved into certain rabbit holes that I would one day end up here. To read mainly, but today, I have decided to write.
I grew up near the Sacred Grove in Palmyra, NY. I have been to all of the sights there, maybe 2-4 times some of them. The 'grove', I recall taking some nature walk at about the age of what they would call Activity Days, back then it was called Achievement Days. I have been into that temple at least once (twice I think) to perform baptisms for the dead. My life story need be some background no matter how I try to swing it. My biological parents were separated before I was born after having served time in England, in the U.S. Air Force. Father back down South, Mom to upstate NY. They were both relocated to their home states and though my father never stepped foot in NY, he would soon be deemed an 'Abandoned parent' by NY law and granted limited access to any info. about me, his daughter. My mom began lessons with the elders and soon had met the man I call my Dad when I was about six months old at which point she started lessons over again so that he could also hear the word of the decided true Church of God. After a temple marriage, a reception in our gym with plenty of nevermo family/ friends and secular music on the playlist, a sister 4 years my junior and a brother 6 years my junior, my parents split around the time I was 7. I recall peeping out of some crystal glass next to our front door on a Sunday after church and finding, my mom, who had been a prominent member of the Relief Society, was smoking a cigarette on the front steps. Not long after they divorced, she left the church, ended up with someone else for 9 years and the rest is history. Dad however, would later date and end up on LDS singles where he would remarry to a woman who would eventually take us out to Utah where we would meet much of her generational family members and go to plenty of places around SLC, Jordan, Ogden, Logan, etc., you name it, for different family reunions, baptisms, church services, sight seeing in Temple square, etc. The woman and my Dad would seek marriage counseling from a bishop, a very old friend of my Dad who had served in bishopric together. (My Dad has served as first/second counselor). He would one day end up leaving his wife of say, 35 years and making time to spend with my dad's wife he had brought around from out-of-state and had in our family approximately 2yrs at that point. The bishop and my ex-stepmother would be tried in front of the stake president and excommunicated. My Dad was in extremely rough shape at the time to put it lightly and the bishop's ex wife, a friend of the family, looked sickly every time I would see her for weeks, constantly sobbing, as well as not receiving sacrament for whatever reason they saw her needing to be further punished. Sick. I have plenty more but, this seems a great mess to start with. I am 27, I left almost 13. However, I did occasionally attend Young Woman's well after I had left. I went on a spiritual journey. Seeking answers in many forms as many do. Delving into Christianity, atheism, agnosticism, world religions, spirit science, and ultimately referring to myself as an intensely curious, devote Pantheist. I have a little one of my own with a lot of questions to answer about God and Jesus. I'm learning to just roll with the punches. We focus on gratitude largely, and Karma, I'd say. Here I am, free as a jay bird, and the little girl in me, would have never seen it remotely possible. I was a real spokeschild for the doctrine. One who at maybe four, would enjoy hanging out in the genealogy area, or the little girl who at 11 performed in 'Woman at the Well', or got accepted into ward choir despite minimal 18yr rules, or the 3yo who recalls coming out of Pageant half-asleep (in Palmyra) late at night with 'Anti-Mormons' (likely Baptists) holding picket signs in our faces and wearing devil costumes or scream mask and saying we were going to hell, yelling bible verses about the damnation that my little soul would succumb to.... Ask me anything.

As a person who normally likes rainstorms and rain, I really need to state, this rain we've been gifted with this year is getting ridiculous. Especially after this past Memorial weekend and today. This is going on to my fourth year in Charlotte. Never have I seen such weird weekend-driven rainstorms in my life.
There are three weekends of the year where I don't want bad weather. Any other time I don't care. Memorial Day, Fourth of July, and Labor Day. Any other weekends are game for whatever. You plan for these weekends as everyone is off, and it can really ruin weeks of planning.
Last week Memorial's day had some of the crappiest weather I've ever seen. We pushed plans with friends to today (Saturday) and despite the forecast looking clear for the whole weekend, we sure enough got another evening of downpours.
I know it rains here often. I know I cannot control the weather. I know weather fluctuates more than it used to (for whatever X political reason you want to excuse in your comments). But Geeze, 80's and sunny Monday - Thursday and rain/downpours Friday-Sunday needs to stop.

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To find a recruiter call 1-800-TO-GO-ANG
Find an ANG base
Find a list of MOST jobs in your state (Recruiters will have a more up-to-date-list of exact openings)
Common Topics:

Palace Chase - Palace Chase is an ACTIVE DUTY program and has its own AFI.

The ANG has NO say in if and when the AD will let you go or anything to do with your outprocessing. You HAVE to work with an in-service recruiter if you want to Palace Chase to the ANG. Do not contact ANG recruiters directly without first going through an in-service recruiter.
Find the one for your region on Facebook or This Post
How to join as an Officer Almost no ANG units take people with no military experience to be officers unless it is a specialty career field.
Pilot Career Information The best collection of information is found a these two sites, not in our Joining thread: BogiDope and Flying Squadron BaseOps Forums
MEPS
MEPS and the ASVAB
MEPS day of advice
Medical
We can not give medical advice about a condition but there are guides to look up your condition yourself
The Enlistment Standards guide is DOD Instruction 6130.03 Volume 1, look your condition up in the guide and if it is disqualifying you MAY be able to pursue a waiver. Some users may be able to talk about the waiver process.
Recruiters
u/LAANGRetention - Louisiana + Education and Bonuses
u/sw33ts77uff - North Carolina
u/261CyberOpsRecruiter - California/195Th Wing
u/SgtFreemanDegboe - Vermont
u/JasminViva - California/146th AW
u/ANGRecruiter - Minnesota/148 FW
u/kencang - NY ANG/ 107 Attack Wing
The following users have volunteered to assist with topical questions. You may TAG them in your post for visibility
u/A7III - Palace Chase and Enlisted to Officer
u/AirPlaneGuy135 - Heavy Aircraft Maintenance and GI Bill
u/CombyMcBeardz - Security Forces (deployment questions, TDY opportunities, training, tech school, etc.) and the CCAF credit transfer process.
u/Dick_in_a_b0x - Operations Management
u/Guardbumlife - Intel and Cyber
u/NotGonnaCallHimDad - Medical Processing
u/Spicysnarf – Inspector General, Mission Support and Command Topics
u/Tandem53 - RPA, National Guard Bureau, Staffing and Senior Leader questions
u/TheSoapOnARoap - Formal Schools (NOT where you are on the list)
u/uncleluu - Basic Military Training and Cyber tech school
u/wynotwy - Training and CCAF
An unofficial FAQ for those to ponder over as they are going through this journey

/LonghornNation Daily Off Topic Free Talk Thread

Today: 6/4/2023

Last Thread

Current Austin Weather: 73° and Thunderstorm

Seven Day Forecast:

6/3	6/4	6/5	6/6	6/7	6/8	6/9
93°, Rain	89°, Rain	88°, Rain	87°, Rain	89°, Rain	94°, Clouds	94°, Rain

Your go-to place to talk about whatever you want. From the dumb shit aggies do on a near daily basis, to the latest whatever happening wherever. What ya got?

Recent Longhorn Tweets

Here's a look at upcoming Longhorn Sporting Event(s):

1. 6/4 5:00 PM University of Texas Baseball vs Miami/Louisiana
2. 6/7 University of Texas Track & Field / Cross Country vs NCAA Outdoor Championships
3. 6/8 University of Texas Track & Field / Cross Country vs NCAA Outdoor Championships
4. 6/9 University of Texas Track & Field / Cross Country vs NCAA Outdoor Championships
5. 6/10 University of Texas Track & Field / Cross Country vs NCAA Outdoor Championships

Trending on Reddit

/All

1. Too much content [OC]
2. Didnt get my sandwich. Had DD re-deliver the order. DD sent me 6 redeliveries using 6 different dashers....
3. Senator John Fetterman at Pride parade.
4. /Videos will be going dark from June 12-14 in protest against Reddit's API changes which kill 3rd party apps.
5. Custom prosthetic leg for adult elephant.

/CFB

1. 2025 4* QB K.J. Lacey commits to Texas
2. [PFF] Who is your dark horse team to make the CFP this season? 👀 (PFF's is Oregon State)
3. No team playing a 9 game conference schedule has ever won a CFB national championship Since 2006
4. Kirby Smart: “NIL and Transfer Portal make it “excruciating” on coaches”
5. Who’s your all-time draft pick for a qb-wr duo out of current and past players from your program?

/LonghornNation

1. [6/3/2023] Saturday's Off Topic Free Talk Thread
2. Texas ⚾ at the Coral Gables Regional
3. 2025 4* QB KJ Lacey has committed to Texas.
4. Is the Radio/App comentary from Craig Way synchronized while listening and watching the game live at DKR?
5. Where to buy Sark’s sunglasses
6. [6/3/2023] Saturday's Sports Talk Thread
7. [Dellinger] The SEC’s scheduling dilemma is over: The league will play 8 conference games in 2024 when Texas & OU join in what is likely to be a short-term format with a play to eventually get to 9.

LonghornBot: you can get a list of commands you can give for the bot by commenting ".help". You will receive a private message with the commands.
This thread was programmatically generated and posted on 6/4/2023 12:00 AM. If you have any questions or comments, please contact brihoang or chrislabeard

Hello reddit! Did my title catch your attention? Cute right? I’m somewhat of a funny guy. Punny and attractive? What a score right? Ok, so I mean I’ve lurked for a while and sent some messages out but now instead of me sliding into y’all’s dms, you’ve got the chance to slide into mine!
Now a little bit about me? I’m a guy who’s far from got his life together! I’m definitely laid back, I have a general “go with the flow” attitude 80% of the time. I don’t sweat the small stuff, and hope you don’t either. I enjoy the finer things in life, like reading, writing and art! I’ve got an artsy side to me and can definitely show it off if you’re interested! Like most guys my age im definitely into video games and comics! Xbox and pc are my main platforms and I’ll fight over the dc vs marvel argument all day long. (DC is better)
I work full time in a bar, and I enjoy it but mostly im looking for a career change here soon. I’ve got a few ideas on what that’ll be but I’m oh so indecisive about that. Im also fairly active. I love playing soccer and hiking around on trails and in state parks when the weathers nice! Im definitely a mountains guy to a beach guy, winter is by far my favorite season. Can’t beat a nice cozy night snowed in with a warm fire. My dream one day would be to own a little homestead, with some animals and a nice little slice of paradise where the woes of the world won’t find us, sounds nice right? Im fit and I work out, so that’s something we can do together if you’re interested! My mom tells me I’m handsome so that’s a plus right?
Ideally what I’m looking for? Friends first and foremost. If we vibe, I’d love to move off reddit to somewhere that I get consistent notifications. Let’s be long term chat partners. If the connection is there and we both agree, maybe we move forward from there? Let’s build a life together? How fun is that? I don’t really have any real dealbreakers. Location, age, body type, race, etc. As long as we get along and there’s a mutual attraction, I’m coolio. Height is definitely something I find attractive in a woman. I’m 5’8 so like, if you’re taller I’ll swooon. I’m also generally attracted to people much older but neither are dealbreakers by any means.
So if you read this far and like me even ever so slightly shoot me a chat or DM, I’m waiting to hear from yoooou! :)

It’s embarrassing to talk to my boomer parents and in-laws.
They didn’t know that Columbus was Italian and that he had murdered and pillaged his way through the Americas. They didn’t know about Jim Crow laws, Sundown towns, poll taxes, and poll tests that kept black Americans from being able to vote until the late 1960s. They didn’t know that the GI bill, after WWars, didn’t offer much of anything to black Americans who had served and prevented them from developing much of the generational wealth that was afforded to many white Americans. They didn’t know that the slave owners, in the south, actually got reparations after emancipation. They didn’t know what red-lining was. They have no idea what happened in Tulsa, OK (black Wall Street) or that NY city’s Central Park was a thriving black community called Seneca Village, or that an entire town in GA was flooded to remove the black people, or that Manhattan beach (in CA) was also a black community. They didn’t know Haiti was an island connected to the Dominican Republic (after a long and painful conversation about immigrants crossing the southern border). They didn’t know about American foreign policies in South America which has contributed to the mass exodus of people from their own countries. They are unaware of the current reproductive policies in many states in the USA. They have no idea what it takes to immigrate to the USA, today. They told me that poor people are getting paid by the government to stay home and not work (all that Covid money, apparently). They didn’t know that the second amendment was redefined in a Supreme Court case in 2008 and that is why a lot of gun laws are hard to implement today. They believe that boomers are not the responsible generation because they are not in government and we had to remind them that the average age of congress is almost 60 and that the current, and most recent former, president are boomers.
These are retired, well-educated, highly successful people and they are so ignorant about their own country’s history. I could go on and on.

Hi so I’m 17 which is the age of consent in my state (NY) and was wondering whether I should actually start going for older men now? My other gay friends find older men disgusting but I don’t and wanted to try it out. Am I still too young? How would I even find an older man?

Gemini is a New York based crypto platform/exchange. Founded by Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss (popular for Facebook), they're probably one of the safest exchanges around since they're regulated like a bank in NY.
This is a well known crypto platform that makes it easy to buy, sell, or store crypto with tools to help both beginner and advanced traders. Gemini has low trading fees on their exchange and low withdrawal fees.
They support USD / EUR / GBP deposits and withdrawals as well as all major crypto coins.
Their referral scheme is pretty simple:
Sign up and trade $100 worth of crypto (buy or sell). You can deposit from your bank and buy or deposit any crypto and sell/trade with other coins. They credit $15 on your account within a day or two after you make a single trade over $100.
Steps

• $bid for referral link, you can also click here to DM right away / please check country list below first.
• Sign up and verify account
• Trade $100 (buy/sell)
• Within a day or two they will add a reward
• Once they credit the reward, I'll send my share via cashapp/revolut/paypal

The following countries are eligible for the referral program: Australia, Austria, Belgium, Canada, Denmark, Finland, Hong Kong, Ireland, Italy, New Zealand, Norway, Portugal, Singapore, Sweden, United Kingdom, and United States
Referral terms

So, i get: $250,000 per depositor, per FDIC-insured bank.
But (just theoretically). I see these two banks:
MORGAN STANLEY PVT Bank NY
Morgan Stanley Bank, UT
Would my deposits at these two different (but, related) banks be combined when considering my FDIC limit?
note: I'm not suggesting Morgan Stanley is in trouble... and I get TBTF- and how the FDIC just pays everyone anyway these days - and all that... I'm just asking a general question
I just always wondered when I see these big banks with state-specific listings....

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^{21+ only. If you or someone you know has a gambling problem and wants help, call 1-800-GAMBLER and visit} /problemgambling

Demographics: european and Chinese, but live in NY (out of state).
Sat combined score: 1390, math and English scores almost identical
Courses: full diploma IB student, taking: HL physics HL computer science HL anthropology SL english (language and literature) SL spanish B SL math (analysis and approaches)
Gpa out of 4: 3.5, however with upward trend. Current very good grades in physics and computer science, average to good in the rest.
Extracurricular: Co Teaching 10th grade computer science class (with friend) 2 internships at Irish university doing things relating to computing Volunteering for a charity Club at school
Pretty confident in my personal essay
My 9th and 10th grade grades are pretty meh but I’ve applied myself a lot more to school this year and if only looking at this year, I have a 3.8 in IB subjects

I am from Buffalo, New York, and I have been to various places in NY, I’ve been to Canada, and I even went to Ecuador once on a school trip (only for honor soc. kids, it wasn’t a whole school field trip or anything). I’ve never seen sponge candy outside of Buffalo. I looked it up, and it says it is made here. Is it just a Buffalo thing, or do people from other states enjoy it too?

Less than 2 years ago, hubby and I moved from CA to NY. HCOL to LCOL. The house we bought became a bit of a money pit, BUT we have no mortgage. The problem is, we gradually realized we don't really love the house(even after we fixed all the issues). Also, the winters are just too harsh and long for soft folks like us, lol. We are wanting to move to a more southern state, and are planning on starting the process next year. We want to buy a house before we put ours on the market. The areas we are looking at would be a higher COL than where we are now, so we'd need a mortgage. We can afford that, but we're not wanting to create any contingencies, so it might be tight if there is a gap between buying new and selling old.
We are considering sticking it out here a few more years and building up our savings, but we're kind of mentally checked out of this house and area. Trying to weigh being financially smart and thinking 'life is short'.
Would love any opinions.

We’re looking at a home in upstate NY and are not familiar with the area. Built in 1985, 2 stories, and they’ve installed two AC’s and two furnaces. Dual zones is common in the southeast where we are from, but not in this area. Along with this, the vents in the upstairs are all in the ceiling as opposed to floor boards which seems much more common, and there is only one small vent for each bedroom, no returns. Would you consider these red flags? Maybe they installed the dual systems in an attempt to compensate for subpar duct designs? We’ve owned a home before that had major difficulty with upstairs cooling in the summer, and really don’t want to go back to that lifestyle. But my concerns are really just speculation and I’m not sure how to confirm the comfort level of the home when it’s currently beautiful weather.