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.“I don’t know how he got that way.Same dad, same mom, same town, same life.I used to think I had something to do with it, that maybe I could bring him back, but then.well, I couldn’t.The next day I buried that dog and promised myself that I’d never forget that night.Never forget that old beagle.” He looked at me.“And every time I bury somebody I love, I remember.”An hour later we walked up the porch steps, where Lorna met us with a tearstained smile and a cup of cold coffee.He wrapped his arms around her, kissed her, and said, “Honey, I’ve got to do something.Something that’s been a long time in coming.I’ve got to bury one more person.” He pressed his forehead to Lorna’s.“You wait on me ’til I get out?”She nodded.“Only if you’re right.”Unc toweled off his face and said, “I’ve been right my whole life.I’m not about to change now.”We loaded into Sally and backed out.Sketch stood in the drive, arms folded, blocking the car.Scared but unmoving.Unc rolled down the window and studied him.“Well, if you’re gonna hang around here very long, you might as well see what you’re getting yourself into.You coming?”He nodded.Unc pointed at the scars on his arms.“You might not like what you see.”Sketch shoved his hands into his pockets and shrugged.Unc opened the door.“Well, I won’t stop you.”He climbed in and clicked into his seat belt.We drove to town, where the streets were heavy with morning traffic.Unc drove around the bank once, saw Uncle Jack’s Escalade parked outside, and then drove right up onto the sidewalk, knocking over the newspaper bin and parking in front of the door.The security guard ran out, saw Unc, and pointed.“You can’t park—”Unc ignored him, walked into the bank, and began climbing the stairs.Behind me, I heard the security guard get on his radio and say something about calling the police.This promised to be a short visit.Unc topped the stairs just as Uncle Jack was walking out of his office.He held some papers in one hand, a cup of coffee in the other, and his reading glasses were down on the end of his nose.Unc never even paused.He took three steps, reached thirty years back into the past, and caught Uncle Jack with an uppercut that lifted him off his feet, rocked his head back into his spine, and sent him back through his office door.His secretary screamed and started fumbling with the phone.Before Uncle Jack could move or moan, Unc was on top of him.He picked him up by his tie and hit him with another vicious right that sent him stumbling backwards into the great oak desk.He bounced into it and spit out several teeth, his mouth and nose spilling blood.He lifted a hand in front of his face while bracing himself on the desk with the other, but Unc tagged him a third time before he could see straight.The last blow caught him square in the chin and shot him backward across the desk, where he spilled on the ground like a corpse.Unc walked around the desk and sank a knee deep into Jack’s rib cage.“Brother, enough is enough.I spent my whole life being afraid of what you might do rather than living it.This ends today.All of it.” He shoved Jack’s head beneath the desk, flipped the latch on the trap-door, and threw it open.Jack’s eyes grew wide.Unc sat him up and pointed.“I know, brother.I know a lot.There’s some I can’t prove, but some I can.some I will.”The State of Georgia and those who work for its governing municipalities have always believed in massive firepower when it comes to the handguns that their law enforcement officers carry.The two officers who walked in, guns drawn, were no exception.I could’ve stuck my pinky up the barrel.I know this because both were about a foot from my face.One was screaming at Unc, “Hands on the desk!”The second turned to me and pointed his Glock in my face.“You too, paperboy.”“What for?”He didn’t like my response, so he body-slammed me onto the oriental rug, carpet-burning my face.Unc obeyed and smiled as they smacked his face onto the desk and zip-tied his hands behind his back with all the speed of a calf-roper.A half a second later, they hog-tied me and then lifted me off the carpet, cutting the circulation to my hands.About then Lorna ran through the door and grabbed Sketch.Unc stopped and looked at her
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