“Yours or the guy in the bar?”
I didn’t answer.
“I guess they can remove them with a laser, but it’s a long process. You’re better off just learning to live with them or cover them up with something you like.”
“Oh.”
“Don’t worry about them. It’s not like you’ll ever be out in public again. That’s not the way it works around here. There’s just two ways to ever leave this ranch. You’ll either die in the mine or be sold to some other gang when these women are done with you. I’m sorry to be the bearer of bad news, but that’s the way it is.”
“I sort of gathered that.”
“Just face it. You just happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time. Maybe it was fate, or maybe it was just bad luck on your part. But you aren’t the first, and you certainly won’t be the last to have ended up here.
