Suzie’s House 468 : Flashback #2

“Why do you put up with him?”

Walter could no longer remember the name of the soldier who said it, but he couldn’t forget the words.

They all sat around a fire pit they weren’t supposed to have dug next to their beat up, mud-splattered tents. A very obvious plume of smoke rose from a pathetic fire that might or might not actually roast the bird Martin had brought back from the jungle.

Martin called the risk of gooks finding them a minor detail. He was nebulous about how he bagged the bird. That probably meant it was dead when he found it. He didn’t care about the regs and laughed off everything Walter had to say.

If they day had been hotter or muggier they might all have wandered off, including Martin. Walter wasn’t at all sure he really wanted a piece of the bird, but had nothing better to do and no where to go. Besides this was where Martin was.

“What do you mean?” He asked the un-named soldier.

“That story he just told – about handing you a live grenade. That true?”

“Yes. He did it yesterday.”

“Man, I’d have killed him.” The soldier shook his head. “A little friendly fire in the jungle. Who’s to know?”

The suggestion made Walter feel sick. He stared the man down, but the guy had balls. He didn’t back down. “Martin is my friend.”

“Really? You think so?”

“I know so. Martin and I grew up together. When no one else would pick me for sand lot baseball, Martin would. When he had a quarter, he’d buy me gum too. Whenever he did anything, he made sure I was right there beside him.”

“Walter! Come over here.” Martin had a big grin on his face and a welcoming arm extended.

Walter didn’t even think about it. He automatically got up and moved around the fire to stand next to his friend. Wasn’t that what friends did?

“Hold this.” Martin handed him a gun. It was grimy and oily. “I need that cleaned before the next inspection.”

Walter stood with the gun in his hand, thinking about what the un-named soldier had said. Was this how it should be? But that’s the kind of thing Martin did all the time. It wasn’t even worth arguing because in the end Martin would get his way.

The guys Martin had been talking to all laughed.

“See? This guy will take anything I hand him.” Martin grinned.

Walter manfully resisted the urge to smack him on the back of the head with the gun.

“Well? Get to it.” Martin waved Walter off.

His mind crowded with a lot of bad thoughts, Walter walked back to where he had been sitting. He seriously thought about just climbing into his dank, grimy tent, but he shared it with Martin. He sat down, pulling a cleaning cloth from a pocket.

The soldier shook his head again with a sense of wry wonder. “All these years you thought you were best buds when really, you were just his lackey.”

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