In Which Mike Realizes He Needs Some New Friends
"What the fuck you bastards?"
"You said it. You said it last night and we were all listening so don't you try to deny it!"
"Actually, Bill, um, I didn't hear it."
"You'd passed out by then, though, Sisky," a new voice interjects.
"See! Butcher remembers!"
"I do, but I'm still not sure this is the best idea."
"Seriously, what the fuck? And where the hell are we going?"
"We're going to make a man out of you, Carden. We started out tonight leading a blindfolded little boy, but when you return home again your eyes will be open, your mind will be clear,"
"My eyes would be open now if you hadn't put a sack over my head, Beckett. And what the hell is it I said that you, of all people, think I still need to 'become' a man?"
"Hurry the hell up, Carden, we're meeting Gabe, Also, before the man-making, I'm going to introduce you to the love of my life."
"I have met Gabe, you know. We kind of grew up together."
"Not Gabe, fucker. Elisa." The name is spoken reverentially, like poetry.
"That whore you're always on about?"
"How dare you speak of her like that!"
""You know," the Butcher puts in helpfully, "I'm not sure you're allowed to get upset about that, if 'whore' actually is her profession."
"It's the way he said it," William says, the pout already evident in his voice, and Mike feels the conversation is going in entirely the wrong direction. He calls their attention back to the salient point, asking,
"Seriously, where the hell are we going? And what the hell are we going to do there?"
"We, Mike Carden, are going to get you laid."