They stand against the portieres in her mother's house; they look right into their life: he'll be drafted in six months, then hired out to slaughter for three whole years; seven years will pass before she conceives a child that will live, then another; then another war, but then home, the kids, & the grass, & the long slow years of the young family, though they're older than many; he takes the bus to work so she can drive with the kids to the store; then the kids take the bus to school & she drives to the store alone; they have friends, parties, clubs; he drinks a little, then more, then too much; she says she'll leave if he doesn't stop, and he does.
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