If my family saw my service as an embarrassment, then I would give them a complete separation.

I would take every tactical training course the Army offered, deploy wherever the assignment board sent me, and build a career where nobody could demand that I sacrifice myself to clear someone else’s debt.

I opened the bottom drawer of my metal desk, laid the yellow pad flat inside next to my green logbooks, and turned the key until the steel bolt snapped into place.

The mahogany table at the steakhouse downtown was set for four under a copper chandelier.