The grip of the two men pinning my upper arms was that of a vice. With effort, I could get out of it, even as my hangover jackhammered behind my eyes and into my temples. But it would be pointless. I would only make the punishment that much worse, and I knew what punishment I was about to face. As soon as the freezing water was tipped over my head and I saw my father standing there, I knew. My bare feet stumbled up the wooden stairs of the basement, but I was determined to keep them under me. If I was about to have my skin ripped apart, I was doing it with my last shred of dignity intact. Pulled out of the back of the pack house, it came as no surprise the direction I was being hauled in. The low morning sun poked over the mountains, it couldn’t be any later than 4am, and still, the ligh

