Chapter 5
Dawn came too soon. This time he didn’t bother turning up on Gary’s doorstep until the man had had time to SSS: s**t, shower, and shave, as his father used to say. Phillip winced at the memory, wondering if his father’s voice was ever going to quit hammering. The man could be so crude.
Phillip was on a downward spiral, physically moving forward, mentally sliding back into his past. He’d hoped this assignment would drag him out of the doldrums. On the contrary, seeing Gary so unperturbed only served to remind Phillip that not only did he have nerves, but he was a nervous bundle of them. He was fragmenting, coming apart under stress. If he could think of something that would hasten the process, he might well welcome it; to succumb might be a relief. If he had a breakdown, even th
