Brothers In Blood: For Country

Called Up

Known as GD to his friends, Greg Dickerson was tired. tired of life, tired of the city, tired of not wanting to remember the images of his friends dying in his arms. It had been a long time since the war, but the images were still there and he hated them. Jack Daniels was his friend during the day, and his wife, Jennie helped him through the tortured nights. But the strong spirits wanted more then just his day life. They wanted his whole life.
Jennie left him after a few months. All their savings had gone to helping him recover, but every time he made progress, the dreams came back. Dreams of death and bullet wounds and horrible faces disfigured by fire and shrapnel.
He was sitting on his couch watching the TV when Jennie told him she was leaving for a while. The shot-glass in his hand shattered on the floor, his shadowed eyes wandering over her figure. Slurred words tumbled out.
“Wadda you leavin’ for, baby?”
Her eyes were burning, tears streaming down her face. Hands shaking, she turned away and tried to move closer to the door. GD shifted his weight, falling over the couch.
“Jennie, I’ll get better, promise I will. Juss gimme another chance, please Jennie!” Pushing himself up on his hands, he crawled across the floor after her. “Jennie, please! Don’t leave me! i need you! I love you!”
The garage door shut softly and the engine purred softly as she pulled out. His fists banged on the unyielding door, harder and harder, his face growing wetter and wetter. Panels cracked and splinters drove themselves into his palms. He crashed back to the floor, bawling like a child.
Months had passed since that night. The bottle had long since been empty, the cabinet thrown out in the yard. He had suffered the time of withdrawal alone, inside his own mind. He had conquered the spirits by sheer will power. Time passed in a daze, moving from sunrise to sunrise like a never-ending parade of light and darkness. The bank came a few times to try to foreclose the house, but GD never let them get close enough to say anything. His yard was dotted with bullet craters and shredded tires. When the police came by, he didn’t give them any trouble, just did what they told him. He spent a few months in jail, for his actions. They took away his guns and put him in rehab.
He saw Jennie a few days after he got out. She didn’t seem to want to talk to him, and he didn’t push the matter. That night, he tried to call her cell phone, but she never picked up.
“Jennie, its me, Greg... Listen, I know I screw up things between us, but I’m different now. There isn’t a single bottle in the house anymore, and I go right home after work... Jennie, please give me a second chance, honey. I love you. Please call back soon.”
he hung up the phone, then turned on the TV. Sleep almost closed in on him when the door bell rang. It was late, and no one but Jennie would be at the door at this hour. Or so he thought.
Two bruisers pushed open the door and grabbed him by the shoulders. They held him in a chair. Expensive cologne overpowered GD’s senses. They had eastern European accents. “We want you to help us, Mister Dickerson.” They squeezed his wrists hard. “Have any agents of this government come to you lately?” A third man entered the house, holding an electronic device that beeped and whistled like there was no tomorrow. He walked around the room, ripping pictures off the wall and sweeping things off end tables and book cases. he picked up a picture of Jennie, smiled, and slipped it into his jacket pocket. “Have to keep my eyes open for that frauline. Good to you?”
GD threw off his captors and threw himself at the third man. “You touch my wife, I’ll kill you!” He slugged the man in the stomach, making him drop the device. It shattered on the floor, followed closely by its operator. GD landed on his knees and continued to punch the man in the face. Blood splattered the floor before the other two intruders could get a grip on him.
“You a crazy man, Mister Dickerson.” The third man picked himself up off the floor. Out of his pocket, he produced the picture. From his hip pocket, he pulled a lighter. “And any woman who would marry you must be as crazy as you are.” The picture fluttered to the rug in flames. Then he turned and left the house, limping and staggering.
His friends worked GD over for a few minutes, then they too left. “Nothing happened here, you hear, American? No one came to your house. Nothing happened, comprehend?”
From the floor, GD spat out the only Russian word he knew. “Ja.” Yes. Seconds later, their car pulled away. he crept to the window and watched them go. Fire burned in his eyes, tears flowing down his cheeks. He stood up and walked over to the pile of ashes on the floor. “Jennie,” he sobbed, “Jennie, i’m so sorry i let them do that to you! Jennie, please, come back to me and let me see you again. Come home, please, Jennie.”
“Jennie, I just want to come home.” He folded the letter and placed it in the envelope. The long hours of the night had been spent writing by flashlight in the oppressive stink of the jungle. GD didn’t want to lose his girl, even if he was on the other side of the world. He loved her, and hoped the censors wouldn’t be jerks and black out all the meaning in the letter. Her last letter had ended with a smudge of lipstick, and the superficial assurance that he would live to see the war end. Mista D was sitting across the camp, looking around, not really seeing anything. One of the supply sergeants had brought in some whisky to help the boys cope with the traumas of war. the night before, D had downed a quart in record time.
GD picked up another bottle and swirled its yellowy contents around. He popped the top off and let the burning liquid run down his throat. The pictures of the dead, sprawled across trees and jungle meadows dimmed, blurred and disappeared the more he drank. he loved it. This was his bind, his prison sentence. And he loved it.
he crashed against the couch like he had been on that night that Jennie left. Adrenaline kept him awake for the rest of the night, but dawn found him sleeping. Jennie found him sleeping.
She put her key in the door, praying he wasn’t home, praying he hadn’t changed the locks, praying if he was home, he still wanted her. In the door, turning off the lights and the TV on her way to the kitchen. On the couch, her husband was stretched out, looking just like he had been before she left. No beer in the fridge, no whisky hidden anywhere, all traces of hard liquor were gone. He couldn’t have known she was coming. Just maybe, he gave it up for good. Taking a piece of paper, Jennie left GD a note.
Greg,
I stopped by this morning, just to check on you. And I’m ecstatic to see that you’ve gotten rid of that stuff. Greg, I’m gonna go see my mother for a few weeks, but I will come back. Just a couple of weeks. Love you, see you when I get back!
Jennie
She slipped out, but not before GD woke up. he jumped up from the couch and started yelling. Then he recognized who the intruder was. “Jennie!”
he ran to her, and threw his arms around her. “Jennie, I can’t believe you came back. Are you back for good?” he wouldn’t let her go, couldn’t let her go yet. His eyes were streaming tears, mingling with hers. “Oh, Jennie! I’m so sorry i ever touched them spirits.”
She pulled away for an instant. “Greg, honey,” She started, then hesitated when she saw the look in his eyes. “Greg, I just have to go see my mother. She’s sick. You understand, don’t you?”
“Sure, baby, I understand. Your mama’s sick, and you gotta go see her. You’ll be back, right?” he looked at her again, then held her close. “Jennie, I don’t want you to go again.”
“Greg, I promise you, i’ll be back as soon as i can.”
“How long?”
“Can you wait a few weeks?”
“Baby, I’ve been waitin’ to see you back in this house for a long time. Almost a year, baby, I’ve been waiting for you. If ya gotta go, i can deal with that. Promise you’ll be back?”
“Greg, I promise I’ll be back.” She stretched up and kissed him. “I’ll be back, as soon as I can.”
He walked her to her car and kissed her again. “Call me when you get there Jennie. God, its good to see you again.”
“Good to see you again too, dear. We’ll talk when I get back, okay?”
“Yeah, we’ll talk. See you later!”
As her car rounded the corner, a black sedan came down the street after her. When GD saw it coming, he assumed the worst. ‘Those damn Russians!’ He threw himself at the windshield. Jennie was long gone by the time he made impact. The glass exploded and he fell through into the cab. A gun barrel jammed itself in his ribs after the screeching brakes stopped. An American accented voice was shouting at him.
“What the hell do you think you’re doing?” Men in black suits were moving around inside the cars leather interior. “Are you Gregory Dickerson, sir?”
GD pulled himself from the car, moving slowly until he could see if anything was broken. Everything seemed fine. he shook his head bits of glass flying out of his hair, tinkling in the street. “yeah, thats me. Who wants to know?”
“That information is confidential, Mister Dickerson. And will remain so, considering your background and your recent actions.” The suits started getting back in the car. GD grabbed the front door.
He brought his face down close to the driver. “Listen, Bub. What just happened was a mistake. I got a visit from some Russian toughs yesterday, and when i saw you guys pulling after my wife, i kinda snapped. As for my record, i’m over that stuff.”
“I’m sorry, Mister Dickerson,” The man riding in the passenger seat was talking now. “You have proven yourself to be too unstable for anything we had planned. Good bye, Mister Dickerson.” The car pulled away, leaving him behind. he waved the exhaust away then walked back into the house. It was nothing, he told himself and busied himself with cleaning up the house. By the time the sun set, all the rooms on the first floor were cleaned and vacuumed. GD collapsed on the couch with his supper and popped in Rocky III. Then, the phone rang.
“Jennie?” His voice was excited. The other end of the line was startled.
“Mister Dickerson,” Through the phone came the Voice, the same voice that had called him to active duty during the War. “Mister Dickerson, the United States needs your help. We are reinstating your Marine squad to carry out a mission. You have no real choice, and we here in the Pentagon have no doubt you would choose to serve your country if you were given another option. Your house is centrally located, and will serve as our command post. Do you have any discrepancies about this arrangement?”
There was a long pause, followed by an extremely loud, “Yeehaaa!” GD was practically in hysterics. The boys were coming back together!
The Voice continued. “I take that to mean you agree to the terms?”
“You better believe it, Mister Pentagon Man, sir! I’ve been waitin’ for this for a long time! Thank you sir, and anything I can do for ya, just let me know! You the best, sir!”
The Voice was close to laughing. “Mister Dickerson, thank you for your understanding. A briefing will be held at your house in two weeks. Understood?”
GD snickered. “Boy, you can come down in four days for all I care. The boys’ll all be here by then. Guaranteed!”
They said goodbye, and the Pentagon signed off with a thud. “Yesss!” GD was ecstatic, like a five-year old getting what he wanted on Christmas. The windows shook as he danced around the kitchen. He trotted over to the TV and pulled out Rocky and put in Rambo. In the middle of the movie, he just couldn’t contain himself anymore. he jumped up to call Mac, and the phone rang again. “Hello?”
“Well, that’s a nice way to greet a friend, isn’t it?” Whip’s sarcastic tone was unmistakable. “Sup Whip!” GD’s eyes lit up the room. “Still as stiff as ever, huh, boy?”