A cleansing fire always burns little Mandus, but it purifies and it makes anew. Did it hurt to carve out the fevered flesh? Did it hurt to cut free the gangrenous foot? Ask instead this: Can we save them?

I don’t need a weapon; my friends are my power!

Communism is the very definition of failure.

Michael: Surviving is winning, Franklin, everything else is bullshit. Fairy tales spun by people too afraid to look life in the eye. Whatever it takes, kid: survive.
Franklin: Damn straight.

The sun went down with practiced bravado. Twilight crawled across the sky, laden with foreboding. I didn’t like the way the show started. But they had given me the best seat in the house. Front row center.