doing writing to Corby? Em reached for the letter. Corby jumped back and began to dance around. He held the letter over his head and did what looked to be an Indian tribal dance. He chanted in what Em assumed to be his Indian voice. He was still just a skinny kid from Kentucky even though Em thought he could definitely see some definition in his arms.
Em thought, What the heck? I bet I can still take him. With that thought, he lunged forward and reached out to grab the letter. Corby stepped sideways, but Em was ready for that move. They had been wrestling each other since they were boys. Em knew all of Corby’s moves. They crashed to the floor, rolling over and over until they collided with the legs of one of the bunks. Em grabbed Corby’s arm that held the letter and twisted it behind his back. They were both laughing like idiots. Corby would not let go of the letter.
Their ruckus had attracted attention. A few of the guys had gathered around and were cheering them on. As Em was trying the get the letter, Corby was trying to hand it off to Larry. Once the letter had traded hands, it took Jack one leap. He pinned Larry to the wall. He retrieved the letter and let loose of Larry. As he turned toward Em and Corby, he noticed that no one was smiling anymore.
Em looked at Jack as if he were on fire or something. “What the heck was that about?” Em took the letter out of Jack’s hand and just held it. He kept looking at Jack as though he had never seen him before. Just as he was about to say something, Larry charged at Jack’s back and shoved him into Em. Em instinctively shoved back, and then it really got ugly. Larry was blindly swinging his fists and kicking at Jack. Jack dodged the wild swings easily. He maneuvered himself behind Larry. In one blindingly fast move, he had Larry on his knees and in a headlock. Once again, Em stared at Jack incredulously. Before it could go any further, the familiar sounds of Cannon’s boots came from around the corner.
“Turner, release him at once! You, Daniels, Cook, and Story, in my office!”
Em had never seen him this upset. Why he wanted him and Corby in the office along with Larry and Jack, Em could not quite figure out. He didn’t think Cannon had seen the earlier skirmish, but he supposed they both probably looked flushed and guilty. His fatigues were in complete disarray also. His shirt was only tucked on one side, and he still felt his ears. They were hot from the wrestling. Cannon was no rocket scientist, but in this case, he didn’t have to be.
He didn’t say anything at first. He just paced back and forth in front of the four of them. They stood in a row, all perfectly still, staring straight ahead. The longer he paced, the more his face grew red. Just when Em thought that he must either scream or explode, he calmly sat down in the chair behind his desk. He pushed himself backward, and the chair rolled a couple of feet to a filing cabinet. He turned toward it and opened the bottom drawer. He reached inside and brought out a stack of manila envelopes. He wheeled himself back to his desk, in a move that was perfectly timed. He was facing them as he came to a stop. “You know what I have here, girls?”
None of them moved. Em thought, Please, Corb, keep your mouth shut.
As if on cue, Corby cleared his throat and took a deep breath.
“Keep it shut, Cookie. I like it that way.” Cannon stared at him.
Em could see the lump in Corby’s throat when he swallowed. He also saw the sweat as it dripped off his forehead. Em quickly brought his eyes back to the front when he felt Cannon’s stare. And sure enough, Cannon was now staring at him. Why, oh, why hadn’t he continued to stare forward? Jack stood motionless the entire time.
“You, Storybook, I expected more from you.” Cannon reached down and sorted through the envelopes.
Em just knew they were all going to be recycled. He knew that it was up to Cannon to decide who could be sent back two weeks to join another flight. To have to go back and complete the first two weeks of training was not an option. Em decided then and there that he would do anything to keep that from happening. “Sergeant Cannon, this is all my fault, you see…”
“Shut your mouth, Story! When I want you to talk, I’ll tell you what I want you to say! Until then, keep it shut!”
“Yes, Sergeant.” Em felt his own lump as it descended down his throat.
“Here it is.” Cannon held the envelope. Em saw his name typed on a tag that had been placed in the slot on the front of it. Cannon opened it and pulled a small stack of papers from it. “Story, you have shown some skills over the past two weeks. I’ve noticed the way you seem to have mastered this whole operation. I never seem to see you working, but you always have everything in inspection order. I’ve also noticed some leadership qualities; however, what happened in there tonight was completely inexcusable. I will never accept that behavior from anyone. You fellas are here to be trained for war. In case you haven’t heard, we have one of them going on now.” Em continued to look him right in the eye.
Cannon took a deep breath and sighed. “You, Turner, I thought you showed more leadership qualities than anyone I had seen in quite a while, but what I saw in there was a boy losing his temper a little too quickly. I don’t know what was going on in there, and I really have no intention of finding out. The only thing I saw was you trying to show off some muscle. I’ll trade a few with ya if ya want to. How about it?” Jack did not move. Em couldn’t tell if he was looking at Cannon or at the wall. Em focused on a wooden statue of an eagle that sat on the shelf behind Cannon’s desk. Its talons were squeezing a rabbit. It was painted as if it were real. The rabbit’s eyes bulged from its skull. Em felt just like that rabbit right now.
Cannon sat still again and made a show of looking through the papers he held in his hand. Em slowly moved his eyes to look at his three friends. Jack still stood at attention, staring straight ahead. Corby was still sweating profusely. Larry, however, had a look on his face of pure hatred. He was leering at Jack.
“What’s up with you, Daniels, you little pip-squeak? Wipe that look off of your face or I’ll knock it off.” Em noticed that Cannon said this with a look of amusement on his face. Larry didn’t say anything. He continued to stare at Jack. “I got a meeting tomorrow with a good friend of mine.” Cannon stared straight at Em now. “He asked me if I had a couple of go-getters with half a brain in their head.” Cannon now looked from Em to Jack. “I told him I might have a couple in mind.” He paused and pushed himself back from his desk. He stood up before he said, “This is important, boys, so don’t mess up again.”
Cannon walked to the door and opened it. He walked straight toward the latrine. He began to scream before he was even there. The latrine crew jumped immediately and double-timed it into the bathroom. When Cannon entered the latrine, the stall he chose had to be specially prepared. The crew had no clue which stall he would choose, so all six of them would scramble to prepare each stall to his specifications. By the time Cannon reached the door, four stalls were prepared, and the remaining two were finished before he reached the door to the first one. The crew had perfected this operation within the first week. They worked on the sinks for fifteen seconds before they cleared the area for an indefinite period of time.
Em and his three cohorts remained where they were. They did not know whether to leave or stay. To be safe, they decided to stay right where they were.
Larry spoke first, “You ever do that again, Turner, and I’ll kill you.” Jack did not say a word. He stood like a statue and continued to stare straight ahead.
Em decided to try and mend the fences. “Where did you learn those moves anyway?” he began. “Could you teach them to us?” He looked from Jack to Larry and realized he was not helping.
Larry even looked madder than before. He said, “If you hadn’t surprised me, I could have taken you.”
Jack finally moved but just slightly. He looked Larry right in the eye and said, “Oh yeah, pip-squeak, you tried that once. How did that turn out for you?” Em thought Larry was going to jump him again.
“Really, Jack? You could teach us those moves of yours. We could all learn something.” Em looked at Larry and added, “Larry, seriously, we could work on it. You got to admit, you wouldn’t mind knowing how he did that.” Em hoped he was getting through to him. He had to smooth