One evening, after wrapping up the poker games and counting the “house” money, I was set on going out to party. However, my friend at the time was vehemently against the idea. His frustration quickly escalated into rage, but his words alone weren’t enough to dissuade me.
In a moment of fury, as the night deepened, he opened the nightstand drawer, pulled out a gun, and fired a shot in my direction. I suppose he thought such drastic action would change my mind. Well, it didn’t. First of all, I’m a former Marine—if you can’t aim, don’t bother shooting. Secondly, I was driven by a force that felt unstoppable at the time. Staying back was simply not an option.
As the film director Stephen Frears put it so perfectly in Dangerous Liaisons (1988), “It is beyond my control.” At that point in my life, nothing short of death could have kept me from pursuing my plan that night.
Summary
- One evening, after wrapping up the poker games and counting the “house” money, I was set on going out to party.
- In a moment of fury, as the night deepened, he opened the nightstand drawer, pulled out a gun, and fired a shot in my direction.
- Secondly, I was driven by a force that felt unstoppable at the time.
- As the film director Stephen Frears put it so perfectly in Dangerous Liaisons (1988), “It is beyond my control.
- ” At that point in my life, nothing short of death could have kept me from pursuing my plan that night.
