I had begun talking to my father on the phone, trying to repair the damage, to have a relationship with him again. Things started smoothly. He liked small talk. Then he offered advice—how could I build a life, grow up into something steadier? Join the navy, he kept saying, join the navy. Hell, join the air force. He saw the military as the fix-it-all solution to my problems: the military offered stability, tuition money down the line, a career. And it would man me up, he kept repeating. It had done that for him.
