My mother-in-law shaved my head while I slept on the very night the United States Army promoted me into one of the most important commands of my career.

and my attorney.

Not recent ones.

Years of them.

At the very back was a handwritten note.

Subject shows high resistance to dependency conditioning. Recommended pressure points: career isolation, marital guilt, public humiliation, financial entanglement.

I read the words once.

Then again.

Dependency conditioning.

I looked at Linda, and for the first time, I continue reading …