overwhelmed him. He had a chance to perhaps really make a difference somehow. The more he thought about it, the more he wanted to go. The feeling was exhilarating and at the same time petrifying. He would be virtually alone, depending solely upon himself. He knew he would have Jack and Colonel Roth, but he had never been entirely apart from his family and friends. He felt something inside himself as he jogged along. It was power. He also felt desire like nothing he had ever felt before. He longed for this journey to begin.
“Hey.” Jack poked Em in his side. “Are you listening to me?”
“What? I heard you. So what? We knew that they knew each other,” Em said.
“You didn’t hear what I said after that,” Jack replied.
“What?” Em stopped jogging and began to walk at a leisurely pace.
Jack was not even breathing hard when he began to stroll. “Cannon saved the colonel’s life.” Jack began again. “But don’t ask me how. That’s when you interrupted us.” Jack told this lie with as much ease as his others, but Em really had interrupted something extremely important.
They approached the chow hall as the flight was starting to trickle out. Things sure had loosened up around here in the past thirty-six hours. Jack and Em walked into their area unnoticed by all, except for two. Larry was glaring at Jack out of his one good eye. Jack paid no attention. He was looking for Cannon. Corby came over to where they were standing. He was smiling as usual.
“That was beautiful, Jack. Really. That little Nazi deserved it. I don’t know what he was thinking. What he said to her and what he told me he was going to say to her surely weren’t the same thing. He didn’t mean any of it though. He was just trying to get back at you.” Corby said all this with one breath and then held his breath waiting on Jack’s reply.
Jack just grinned and said, “I really never intended to mess him up, but he’s like a cockroach. He just kept coming back.”
“I know,” Corby said. “But that can be a good thing too, right? I really think that he would prefer to be your friend, but he just doesn’t know how. I don’t know. Don’t hold it against him, Jack. He really is a good kid. You know, I’ll make sure he apologizes to you and that girl. And who is she by the way?” Corby still had a way of putting people at ease. It was a trait Em was envious of.
“I don’t care about an apology, and I really don’t want him near Meredith,” Jack said.
“You’re not sure you want who talking to Meredith, son?” Cannon appeared from behind them and stopped directly in front of Jack. “What are you yelping about? I’m quite sure that Ms. Roth is none of your concern. I thought I made that perfectly clear. Need I reiterate?” Cannon remained calm.
“No, sir,” Jack replied.
“But just to satisfy my curiosity, who is it that you don’t want talking to my niece?” Cannon was staring at Jack with penetrating eyes.
“I didn’t want you to talk to her, sir. You see, I saw her again today.” At that point, Cannon twitched just a bit, but it was enough to make Jack flinch. “Accidentally, I mean. I went to round up the flight, and I ran into her. I told her that I couldn’t see her again. She said she would talk to you and make you understand, and I told her that I did not want her to. I really want to do the right thing. I know our new jobs are important, and I want to support our troops on the front in any way I can.”
Jack once again mystified Em. He could almost smell flowers whenever Jack dug the pits into which he entrapped himself. When he told his lies, the truth was all the recipient heard. Before his tales were spun, he would ascend from the pit smelling of flowers. Em looked at Cannon and saw that he believed every word of it. As long as Larry kept his mouth shut, which he undoubtedly would, Jack would emerge unscathed, once again.
Cannon did not seem completely happy with the events that had taken place, but he understood teenagers and ultimately decided to table the entire conversation. Instead, he formed them up in ranks and put them at attention. The flight had never seemed as motionless. They stood at attention while Cannon walked in circles, twenty feet away. After two minutes, he turned to them and said, “At ease, guys, and listen up.”
Cannon began by telling them how important the previous days’ events had been. He said that, indeed, June 6, 1944, would be a day that would never be forgotten. He told them to forget all the little problems that seemed insurmountable. He said to pay attention to those around you because they would definitely be your best friends at some point during this war. He also said the guy beside you would be your family. The flight had never listened so closely. Cannon told them to be prepared because this was going to be the quickest growing up in the history of mankind. Before he got too emotional, he stopped. Then, to their astonishment, he brought them to attention and proceeded to march them around the base for over an hour. At least ten men, who had spent the afternoon eating, fell out of ranks to vomit but quickly rejoined and continued to march. By the end of the march, each of them had learned a great deal. Em believed that Cannon had seen bad times and knew the face of war too well. Now, he had to watch thousands of eighteen-year-old boys go to war.
The evening ended quietly, with members of their flight remaining eerily quiet. Reality was beginning to set in. Barely anyone spoke. Even Corby had held his tongue uncharacteristically. Each of them either lay quietly on their bunk or wandered around speaking to friends in rather-low tones. Corby just lay motionless on his bunk, eyes open, looking at nothing in particular.
Jack sat, looking at Em. Em was writing. “Honestly, Em, what in the world do you say to her? You never stop with the writing.”
“Nothing really,” he said. “I just tell her about the things going on around here. I mean, I can’t tell her some things, and I hate that. I told her I would never lie to her, but I’ve already broken that promise. So I just tell her about all of you guys. She already has you pegged. She has told me, more than once, that you sound like trouble waiting to happen.” Em closed his writing pad and stretched out along the length of his bunk. He looked around and saw that most of the guys were sleeping. The remaining ones were staring holes into the ceiling. Em too was staring at one spot on the high barrack’s ceiling.
In less than seven days, he and Jack would be in Hawaii. Their training would be intense at times. Not knowing what their new jobs would entail, their imaginations were useless. Neither he nor Jack could think of a single scenario that was not far-fetched.
As for Corby, Em knew that he would be all right. He would go to Mississippi for a few weeks training and be in Europe by August. With any luck, he would be able to stay far enough away from any action to remain relatively safe. Perhaps by August, Em would be able to tell him about his new job. For now, he had to tell him he was going to California. He only hoped that Corby did not see through his lie.
Just as he had every night for over a month, he closed his eyes and pictured Irene. When he thought of her face, it was always smiling. Her black hair shimmered in the sun’s rays. The golden specks of her eyes reflected the light, and the white dress flittered gently in the breeze.
He thought, I love you, Irene. Wait for me. Please. Wait for me.
Chapter 2
Journeys
Looking out into the fog, he felt very small. Somewhere out there, the Golden Gate Bridge connected San Francisco to Oakland, California. It was supposed to be the land of sunshine, but Em had not seen the sun in two days. He and Jack arrived by train and were escorted by military police. He saw some of the looks that the civilians gave them. As if they were war criminals, people leered at them. Some of the stares were hateful. Em supposed that, to civilians, he and Jack must look like criminals. Why else would they be escorted by the military police? Em was thinking about that himself. Could he and Jack be worth this much trouble? What was Sergeant Cannon thinking? He and Jack were still in the dark about what actual duties were in store for them. He and Jack had talked and talked on the way from Texas to California. They were the only military on most of the legs of their journey. They changed trains twice in Texas, once in Arizona, and