Indeed, it is true that in these acts of revenge on others, men take it upon themselves to begin the

PART I Separation Chapter 1 April 28, 1977: Dulici, Yugoslavia THEIR WORLD CHANGED the afternoon they were released early from school. The rain began in March, more of a drizzle at first, but then it became heavier, the clouds darker and more ominous. One Sunday morning, the heavens opened and the rain hammered down in torrents, continuing through the spring. In April, the Drina River spilled over its banks and flooded surrounding fields. The farmers warned of catastrophe, claiming they could smell more rain on the way, but that afternoon when a plumbing malfunction caused school to let out early, only a few drops wet the youthful faces of cousins Marko and Celo Mescic. Twelve-year-old boys with the rest of the day now free, they jumped over fences and ran through fields of wet, shoulder-high weeds, their chests heaving. Along the way, they could smell the smoke drifting from fireplaces and wood-burning stoves. Passing between the engorged Drina and the sprawling Zvornik aluminum plant, they stepped into a recently plowed field and found themselves suddenly mired in dark, thick mud, slogging their way through. Their shoes made loud sucking sounds like the croaking of bullfrogs in a vast swamp. When one of Celo’s shoes was pulled off by the muck he cursed a stream of obscenities. Marko howled, amused at their predicament and at Celo’s heated reaction. Some of the words, Marko had never heard before—at least, not in ...