Extraction Read Online Free

my money from my time away had been put in savings so now my rent was paid in advance, my truck paid off, and I lived a simple life. All I needed were the essentials and that's how I lived.
    My cooking skills were subpar, but my best and favorite meal was breakfast. Lunch and dinner were usually sandwiches or things that could be easily heated to make a meal. My grocery shopping usually took place at night right before the store closed. There were times when I had to make an appearance during the day, but I usually slept during that time and spent my nights awake.
    I didn't have a television. I have an old radio that can only get a few stations. Occasionally, I turned it on and listened, while others times I just sat and read books.
    My family tried to reach out on a regular basis and I tried to answer so they wouldn’t make a trip to find out what was going on with their only son. They wanted me to get a job and do something to keep my mind active. These were the words from my father, who was well-read on everything about war, especially the symptoms and ramifications of being soldiers. He usually informed my mother and she would cry, then curse the war and everything about it.
    I was an only child, so this made everything about my family relationship intensified to ridiculous degrees and they could be obsessive.
    When I was overseas she wrote daily letters, with my father’s insertions of course, even if it was just sharing her day; telling me about her latest pinochle debacle and some fruit combo that would be entered in the upcoming fair. As annoying as they might have been, it was probably the one thing of normalcy that kept me going or even in my right mind.
    I had brothers who had no one, so Janice was their adopted Mom, to the point where they regularly wanted to know how she handled her cheating pinochle partner’s latest antics. Before long, the reading of letters from Janice became a communal event.
    Guys would walk up to me and say things like, “Man, what did Mom say to Lois again?”
    It was unreal but that was our life and we lived it and breathed it, until it was time to go. Some went on a mission and never returned. Some returned as less of a person than what they were and some returned, but they would never be the same.
    To the army’s credit, they tried to keep us entertained, but the temporary pleasures of a benefit concert or a celebrity visit were fleeting. These events were appreciated but the lasting wounds that no one would ever see are far worse than anyone could imagine.
    Knock.
    Knock.
    That couldn’t be anyone but that damn woman from upstairs. She had not showed up for breakfast like she did the week before, so I figured my debt was paid off. I hadn’t heard from her all weekend and that was good because her perky demeanor early in the morning was annoying as shit.
    If it was her, she wouldn’t leave and at some point would start banging on the door. She needed her firm little ass smacked but that wasn’t my job. At this point, my job was to survive her visit. My hope was that she’d lose interest and move the fuck on. I had no interest in her and she seemed like she needed a friend or a pet.
    “Yes,” I said as I opened the door.
    “Ahh, you are here.” She beamed her white teeth my way.
    Her eyes resembled those big eyes on the cartoon characters with long eye lashes that could occasionally get in the way. She was beautiful and fearless but she was also crazy as shit.
    “Get your stuff, so we can go,” she said.
    Yup, crazy.
    “Go where?”
    “To the nursery. We have to get some things for the backyard.”
    We?
    What?
    I ran my fingers through my hair because I always felt like I had missed out on a conversation that took place only in her head. She just fucking makes decisions and then tells me like I’m supposed to read her mind and understand the words that she blabbers on and on about.
    “What the fuck are you talking about?” I asked.
    She laughed out loud.
    She always