Burning Second Street Park

A Novel

by Tom Bessette

Copyright 2009 BessetteBooks

Chapter 7
Ricky Kozinski

Geezum!  What am I doin’?  I keep, like, wakin’ up from sleepin’, but I ain’t sleepin’, ‘cause I’m outside doin’ stuff or somethin’. It’s like what they say sleepwalkin’ is like, I think.

Goddam Yoder!  If he’s lyin’ to me, I’m gonna burn his house down.  Bobby Nolette never done nothin’ to me.  But Yoder said they were telling the police about our plans to ‘take care’ of Mim.    Yoder had tole me all about how Mim did business with my brother, an’ made my brother do that nasty with him an’ all that.  That bastard!  Botherin’ my little brother like that! He deserves to burn in hell an’ I’ll do it, too. Anybody ever tries to do somethin’ like that with me an’ I’ll kill them!  Family, everybody, I don’t care!

I snuck back up close in the weeds to Bobby’s house so’s I could listen to what the coppers were sayin’.  Geezum!  There’s my old lady. What’s she doin’ there?  She lookin’ for me? Maybe Matty.  He never come home for dinner.  Thought he had went to the park, but I never saw him there neither.  Didn’t see him at the Calvary Fort fire neither.  Maybe she’s worried.  But he gotta be home by now!

The cop is talkin’ to Bobby an’ Frecks an’ Mrs. Nolette.  Probly tellin’ them that Yoder threw rocks an’ lit the fire an’ stuff.  Probly tellin them about us plannin’ ta burnin’ Mim down, too.  Geezum, my mom’s cryin’.  This ain’t good.  Wisht I could hear what they’re sayin’.  I donno if I gotta run or not.  An’ I don’t want my mother to be cryin’, but this is important stuff I gotta do.

Ok, the cop’s leavin’.  The firemen are done an’ getting’ in their truck.  Wait!  Here come Bummer an’ Nosal an’ Clark an’ those guys, right towards me.  I gotta scrunch all down an’ hide, just like a war movie or Combat.  Wonder where the heck Yoder went.  He should have been the one to light Bobby’s, not me.

The big guys are takin’ the Apache Trail, right near me, but I wasn’t in the trail, I was hidin’ in the sumac right near it.  They near step on me they go by so close, but they miss an’ don’t see me.

I hear ‘em talkin’. Whisperin’, actually.

“Fuckin’ Yoder punk, he’s worse than ol’ Mim.”  That was Nosal. I could tell his voice.

Bummer said, “And he wants to ‘do’ my brother?  He ain’t gonna fuckin’ live long enough. I bet he an’ Mim had a time an’ Yoder learned what to do and liked it!”

Nosal said, “I’ll fuckin’ shove a fuckin 2x4 up his ass, see how he likes it.”

Then they’re past an’ I can’t hear what they’re sayin no more. Just whisper mumbles.

Yoder!  Yoder doin’ the stuff?  He lyin’ to me?  I’ll kill ‘im, he ain’t straight with me! He tol’ me I was the las’!

I did my army crawl over to the Apache Trail an’ then took the cross trail to the Indian.  I ran over towards the park an’ then cut into the weeds again before I got there to reconnoder.

Me an’ Yoder had snuck away from the Blacksmith game so we could plan what we was gonna do to Mim’s house.  Actually, I was still playin’ when Yoder found me an’ said that Frecks an’ Bobby was gonna turn us in.  We hadda do something quick or the operation would be foiled.  Yoder said so.  He told me all that stuff about Mim, got me all mad an’ we hadda do somethin’, cause Mim hadda pay.

So, I went over to Bobby’s an’ sure enough, heard ‘em talkin’ on the porch long enough to see that Frecks was tellin’ Bobby stuff.  Even though I couldn’t hear exactly what they were sayin’, when I was up in Bobby’s tree, I could hear enough of what he said to his mother that I knew they were plannin’ to cause us trouble.  I heard for sure them say about us burnin’ Mim.

Yoder’d been waitin’ back in the alley an’ when I slipped out of the tree, I tell him what I heard.  He said we gotta stop ‘em, which anybody could see.  Bobby asked out the window if it was Yoder an’ I said no, since I wasn’t Yoder, but Yoder whacked me on the head an’ said “stop ‘em!”  So I threw rocks an’ broke the window, figurin’ they’d hide an’ not do anything then.  But then Bobby’s mom yelled that she was callin’ the cops.  I saw Mr. Miller lookin’ out his window.  Figured he saw me an’ Yoder, but Yoder had run under the porch.  Then there was smoke an’ fire an’ Yoder come runnin’ out an’ ran into the weeds an’ yelled into the house that he was gonna kill ‘em, an’ then he ran off.

It was all goin’ too dizzy for me, so that’s when I ran off an’ hid, past the alley into the weeds.

Now I looked in the park  an’ saw Bummer an’ those guys talkin’ to Gilly an’ those other guys.  They had all come in from the game to see what was goin’ on at Bobby’s.  I army crawled out to the big blocks where the guys had played cards before, keepin’ to the shadows. It was important not to be discovered in a operation, cause the enemies could then get your plans an’ all would be up.

They was all talkin’ in a big circle near the swings an’ I was able to get real close.  I come up to one of the big Maples that was behind the swings an’ was able to stand up on the other side of it from what they was.  Lucky I had messed some mud on my face from the weeds.  Now I could look out from the tree an’ my face would be dark an’ they won’t see me.

Just as I could start to hear what they was talkin’ about, I looked behind me for some reason an’ saw somethin’ waving in the old canal at the end of the park, about a little ways away from me. It was all jumbly rock an’ weeds at the edge an’ it took me a minute to see it was somebody wavin’ at me.  Probly Yoder.

I could feel them headaches comin’ on again.  The ones that I got alla time, like all when somethin’ was real excitin’, an’ stuff.

I dropped down an’ army crawled real fast over to the edge an’ sure enough it was Yoder.  He grabbed me by the collar an’ drug me down the slope.  When we got to the bottom, he kept hold of me an’ we ran through the bushes towards where the old Calvary Fort used to be, before it got burned down today.

“Jesus Christ, Nutso, what the fuck ya doin?”

“Annnhhh, reconnoderin, ya stupid idiot!”

“What?!”

“Reconnoderin.  Seein’ what’s the enemy’s doin’, ya know?  So’s we can plan a counterattack!”

“Counterattack!  What the fuck ya talkin’ about? What’s with the army stuff?”

My head was real hurtin’, now.

Sudden, I remembered that he just call me that name.  That stupid name that I hate more’n anything.  Here he was, swearin’ at me like I was stupid an’ callin’ me that stupid name.  I jumped an’ crashed right into him.  We fell on the ground an’ I punched an’ bit an’ scratched an’ kicked until he hollered an’ cried, an’ said please stop, please stop.

I ended up sitting on top of him, punchin’ his face, watchin’ his blood spit onto his clothes. When he wasn’t tryin’ to talk no more, I got up an’ kicked him for good measure. Right inna ribs!  Yeah, I’ll show him! I figured maybe I could take him prisoner, but then realized that it would distract from the mission, an’ the mission hadda go on no matter what.  An’, I couldn’t kill ‘im, it was unearthical to kill a unarmed man. This was the army code.

So, I just left him.  I told him to march back to the rear an’ surrender himself to the first officer he met.  I made sure his weapons were gone an’ then sent him off, marchin’ hup toop treep forp, hup toop treep forp, off in the dark.  He looked at me like I was crazy for letting him go, but he done it.

I grabbed my helmet an’ gun, an’ bayonet an’ hang gernades an’ bent low an’ made double time back towards the park.  I knew where the enemy was an’ I circled around the bottom of the park near Jefferson an’ crept up the hill towards the ball diamond.  I crept up zigzag in case there was enemy snipers on the lookout.  I had been on fifty missions an’ never been shot yet.  I was next in line for the Purple of Honor Medal.  My captain told me. It would all be worth it.

When I peeked up over the edge of the hill and looked to where the enemy camp was, it was deserted.  I slowly advanced up the hill with my carbine at the ready, using every tree and piece of tall grass as concealment.  This wasn’t right.  There was trickery somewhere.  This is when you have to be ready for anything.  Snipers, assassins, guard dogs, whatever.  This is where experience counted.  New recruits usually bought the farm at times like this.  They didn’t have no second cents to bring them luck, like the Indian Head penny I carried next to my heart.  They’d lose the whole ball of wax, every time.

I got to the enemy camp and they had taken everything.  All the ordurance, the ammunition, every single piece of supply depot was gone without a trace, like they had never been here.  This was professionals.  They obviously planned to thwart my mission.  They would be out looking for me right now, lurking around corners and popping up where I would least expect them.  I had to be ever viligent!

The Manette ammunition dump that was my target was right over there, just beyond those basketball courts.  Captain Mim was guarding it and I had heard that he was a tough cookie who knew every type of torture known to man.  If they caught me, it would be all up with me. It was my business to see that he was destroyed, along with his dump, prisoners be damned.  When you were in Special Ups like me, you couldn’t let your morals get in the way of your operations.  You had orders to follow and you had to do it, or get court motialled, which hurt like the dickens.

I had wanted a corporal or a private to come with me to the operation, but at the last minute they mutated and I had to go it alone.  That’s the way it goes.  That’s the way the cookie crumbles.  When the going gets tough, the tough get going.  I had sent a mutaneer back behind the lines just a little while ago.  He’d get what’s coming to him, for sure. He’d get the brig. He’d get his come up pens!

I ran zigzag over to the weeds along the basketball court, just this side of the Malvern Fort.  There were no guards posted, which made my job easier.  I crawled around the edge of the fort until the dump came in view.  I had studied the reconnoder pictures back at headquarters and remembered that it was a two story white building with back porches, facing second street and right at the edge of the park. It looked unpenetrable. But, I had found that with perserverence and tactics, anything could be beached.  A soldier with my experience and know how would find a way.

There were street lights shining on Second Street that made long areas of bright lawn to traverse.  In between was shadows where a soldier could hide.  I had to worry about trip wires and booby traps.  I had to expect that the dump was well guarded and near inpregnantable.   I lay on the ground and watched for movement for a minimum of one hour to get the sense of guard movements.  I used my night vision goggles, but saw nothing.  Could the dump be empty?  Well, I had to go on the assumption that it was still in operation and that it was so well guarded that I couldn’t see a clue.

Suddenly, a vehicle pulled up on Second Street in front of the dump.  I recognized it as the command car for General Nolette, commander of the enemy second battalion.  He was driving himself, which I thought was pretty brave, considering who he was and where he was.  He walked around the other side of the vehicle and opened the passenger door.  Usually a major would have driven and would be running around to open the door for him.  There must be something unusual going on.  Perhaps General Nolette was doing a Special Up himself! 

Sure enough, when he opened the door, a sultry woman stepped out.  One of those hard boiled types who’d seen a lot of life in her day.  She must have been wounded because he took her arm and led her across the street.  I checked my two way wrist TV. It was just past midnight, the stroke of the hour, the dead of the night, the witching time.

I flew across to the side alley and followed a hedge line to Second Street.  I watched General Nolette and the strange dame stop in front of the building across the street from the dump.  They looked both ways and stepped into the shadows when a civilian car drove past.  I used the confusion of the passing car to run across the street and up onto the porch of the building next door.  I looked through the railing.  I saw them embrace.  She sighed, she swooned, he grunted.  I had better report this development to headquarters. It might have far reaching effects on the war.

They walked around the side of the building.  This must be a secondary command structure,  a feint, a subterfuge.  They spoke in low tones. Their voices were in a vacuum.  General Nolette felt he should see her into the building, to be sure it hadn’t been infiltrated.  What?  Were there other Ups going on, too?  She said, no, it wasn’t safe, he should go now.  She didn’t call him General.  Perhaps he had lost the confidence of his troops.  In the end, he turned after one last hug, crossed to his vehicle, and left.

The woman looked after him, clearly plotting, then turned and entered the downstairs apartment.  I felt I should stay on to see if she was friend or foe.  A noise in the distance, coming up Second from Jefferson.  A platoon of enemy soldiers at 3 o’clock.  Superior numbers! I best not attack and give up my position. Unperil the situation. A stitch in time saves mine.

Now I saw. Major Nolette Junior, the General’s son, leading a platoon regiment reconnodering the supply dump.  I was too late.  Shouldn’t have got abstracted with General Nolette and the mystery dame. Up in trouble.  Lay low, be quiet.

An MP cruiser glides up the street.  Stops next to the platoon.  Officialdom.  Enemy! Shut up and listen!

The MP: “What are you up to boys?”

“Just headin’ home, officer.”  One of the privates.  Discipline in this army is low.  Privates speaking over officers! Morale is nowhere.

The MP: “I hope you’re not out looking for those two troublemakers.”

The Private: “No sir, not us!”

The MP sits in his jeep and stares at them for a minute.  Why doesn’t Major Nolette speak?  He’s the commanding officer. The plot thickens.

The MP: “Move along.  Get home.  I don’t want to see you out here anymore.  Now, git!”

The Private: “Let’s go guys.  I gotta get up early.”

The platoon heads up to Main.  The MP watches them until they round the corner. He shines his flashlight across the street at the supply dump.  They’re on to me.  Lay low, say nothing, bide your time, a stitch in time.

Five long minutes.  The jeep glides away.  I let out a long breath.  That was a close one.

A sound next door.  The woman steps onto the porch, carrying a young girl.  I see clearly now.  I’ve seen this woman before.  Yes!  The spy with the little girl.  I had heard. There were stories.  Secret meetings with General Nolette.  Her commander in the hospital with fractures and a bad concussion.  May not live.  Her treachery!  Endangering the whole war effort.  Must be stopped, but not my mission.  Not tonight.

An older woman comes out onto the porch.

“What you doing, you, you even know?  A marriette man!  For shame!  Trow you in da hoosegow, dey will.”

The woman:  “I’m not doing anything wrong.  He’s just being nice to me.  Can’t anyone be nice to me?”

She runs off, crying, around the house, to the back.  The old woman goes back inside muttering.  In code. The street is quiet again.

Concentrate!  Important duty to do. Need all your faculty.  Destroy the supply dump!  Now, move!

Run across the street to the alley, back the way I come.  I cut through the backyard, slide in some mud from yesterday’s rain, nearly lose my helmet; gotta be careful.  Can’t leave evidence. Spies everywhere!

it’s dark.  Street light only here and there.  Big areas of shadows.  Perfect for Special Ups.  I belly crawl through the yard to the target back porch.  Windows open overhead.  I hear snoring.  The guards asleep?!? Can’t believe it.  Take advantage. Work fast, but quiet.

Wad of newspaper.  Separate it and crumple it into balls, stuff in under the stairs.  Check the two way wrist TV.  Nearly 1 o’clock.  Times a wasting! A penny saved is a penny earned.  You can lead a horse to water but you can’t make him drink.

Can of lighter fluid.  Only way to be sure.  Pull the stopper and squirt it all over the stairs and the porch and the walls of the house.  Use the whole can.  Pull out the other one.  Squirt all over the side of the house.  Soaking wet. Smells. 

Books of matches. Three of them.  Have to do this quick!  Light one match, light the whole book.  Toss on the porch.  Whoosh!  Big flame!  Light the second.  Toss.  The Third. Toss.  Big whooshes!  Flames taller than me.  Big fire.  Destroy the enemy!

Time to run like hell.  No more need to be sneaky.  Go. To the alley. Run! For God’s Sake, run!  Past Malvern’s Outpost. Look back.  Can see it all the way from here.  Big fire!  Holy cow!  Big!  Cut through Suprenants.  Up to Main.  Cross.  Cut through Olmstead’s.  Up to the tracks. Dark.  Can’t see.  Know my way!  Over to the path.  Down to Main and Second, where I live.  Fly across the street.  Special Up!  Superman! Up, up and away!  Climb up the drainpipe.  Room window is open.  Crawl in!  Strip to shorts!  PJ’s on!  In bed.  Wait.  Fool them all. Silence.  Silent Night!  Holy Night!  All is well. Tired!  Sleep!

The world is now safe for another day.  Special Forces Commander Kozinski, successful again.  Savior of mankind.  Kill the infidels, the evildoers.  Will report to headquarters after alarm sounds.  Still chance for failure.  Must be smart.  Must be tough!  Do not give in.  Name, rank and serial number, and that’s all.  Do not betray anyone.  Be a soldier.  Be a man.  The mission is the thing, the only thing.

Back in headquarters.  Look out the window.  Can see flames and smell fire.  Sirens call.  Faint and then louder, then right on top of me.  Outside on the street.. Turning down Second, five doors down.  A two story white building at 17 Second Street is engulfed in flames.  Hose down the nearby houses so the fire doesn’t spread.  No need for innocents to suffer.  Smile in satisfaction.  The superiors are happy.

I close my eyes.

“Boys!  Boys, get up, there’s a fire!”

I open my eyes.  Kind of don’t know where I am. I get up, pull on my jeans an’ a shirt an’ go downstairs.  My mother is in her robe, all excited, in the parlor.

“Ricky, get Matty up.  There’s a fire!”

“Annnhhh, OK Ma.”

I climb back upstairs. My head is hurtin’.  How long was I asleep, I wonder?  I look in Matty’s room an’ he ain’t there.  Check the bathroom. No go.  Wonder where he is?  Haven’t seen him since before supper. Probly already went out to see the fire.  Wonder what’s burnin’?

Got downstairs an’ my mom has already gone out.  My father’s workin’ his night job, so isn’t here for the excitement.  He’s always workin’; we don’t hardly never see him.  Not like Gilly’s jerk old man who is either home punchin’ ‘em all out or drinkin’ at Smith’s or Borelli’s.

But, I can’t think about my old man.  I just can’t.  I love him.  He loves me.  That’s all I can say.

I went outside to see what’s up.  There’re already a lot of people around.  They’re all headin’ down Second Street towards the park.  When I got around the corner, I saw the Manette’s house all in flames.  What the heck? The fire trucks were just pullin’ up an’ the firemen were pullin’ out their hoses an’ hookin’ ‘em to the fire hydrant across the street.

I walk down as far as the firemen will let me.  They put up some rope tied to telephone poles to keep us from getting’ too close.  No fun.  We all wanted to get closer, except the grown ups who were all worried about the fire catching other houses an’ wonderin’ were there people inside burning up.

There’s Bubby Paulsen, his mom an’ big sister Ginger.  She’s real fat, like Bubby.  Janie an’ Jenny Stoltz had also walked down from their house up on Main with their parents. Janie is startin’ to get real pretty.  She’s got nice straight dark hair an’ real nice eyes.  I don’t care that a lot of the guys say girls are pukey.  I think Janie’s as nice as a girl can get. Her sister Jenny is a real tomboy.  She plays basketball an’ baseball with us when the guys will let her an’ she’s about as good as anybody, even with her glasses.  Gilly calls her four eyes all the time, but he’s a stupid kid an’ she shouldn’t listen to him. Someday, I’m gonna knock ‘im one to show ‘im.

Mrs. Malvern has walked up the alley an’ is talking to Bubby’s mom, all worried, like.

“Oh, Mary, were the Manette’s and Archambeault’s home?”

Bubby’s mom answered, “The Archambeault’s went to visit in Canada, but I’m pretty sure the Manette’s are home.  The firemen are trying to get in the house right now to see if they’re in there.”

“Oh, my goodness, I hope they’re all right!”

The firemen had raised the hook and ladder an’ had pushed the top of it to the front porch at the second floor where the Manette’s lived.  There was already smoke coming from all of the windows, an’ sparks an’ flames.  I think if they were in there sleeping when the fire started, they had burned up or suffocated by now.  I wonder how the fire started.  Mrs. Manette smoked like everybody else.  Maybe she smoked in bed an’ fell asleep with a cigarette lit an’ that’s all she wrote.

The firemen smashed in the windows off the porch an’ big flames jumped out on them.  We could hear screaming’. It sounded like Mim’s little sister.  We looked where the screaming was coming from an’ we could see her in a open window about halfway towards the back.  There were flames all around her an’ it looked like she was on fire herself.  She was screamin’, “Help, Help!  Help Me!  Mommy!  Help!”   The flames got more all aroun’ her and then we couldn’t see her anymore an’ didn’t hear no more screamin’. It give me the shivers thinkin’ about it.

Mrs. Malvern an’ Bubby’s Mom was sayin’ Oh, my Goodness an’ the poor thing, an’ somebody save her, an’ stuff like that.  But it looked like Mim’s sister went an’ got herself all burned up.  Gee Willikers!

The firemen were busy hosin’ off the Paulsen’s house ‘cause it was right next door to Mim’s.  There was yard between ‘em, but the fire was so big that they were worried it would jump across.  The firemen on the ladder had given up tryin’ to get in the house ‘cause it was too hot an’ he didn’t want to burn up himself.  I think, anyway.  I know I wouldn’t!

I crossed the street an’ walked down to the other side of the house, down near Gilly’s.  There was Bobby’s brother Bummer an’ Nosal an’ Clark an’ that gang.  I saw them an’ they saw me an’ walked over to me.

Bummer said, “Hey Nutso, who did this?”

“Annnhhh, like I know,” I said!

“You didn’t?”

“I said, NO!”

“Mr. Miller saw you before at my house, throwin’ rocks, ya little punk!”

“Annnhhh, that was stupid Yoder!  I was tryin’ to stop ‘im.”

“Yeah?”

“Yeah, an’ see how you like it!”

Nosal said, “Bummer, I bet it was Yoder, like we thought.  Nutso, you know where Yoder is?”

Somethin’ about punchin’ his face, or somethin’, on the ground, I thought.  I couldn’t remember.

“Annnhhh, I don’t know, I think he went home, maybe.”

Something about marching, hup, toop treep, forp… something about a prisoner.

“If you see him, tell him we’re lookin’ for him.  We’re gonna kick his goddam ass.”

This was war.

They walked away an’ I looked around again.  Gilly’s Mom was over at the bottom of her stairs, holdin dirty little Ginny.  She looked tired an’ beat up.  She looked familiar.  I could see her pretty good in the firelight.  She looked like a spy…

My head was hurtin’ again, like somebody had knocked me with somethin’. It was hard ta think, ya know?

My mother walked down the street to me.

“Ricky, did you get Matty up?”

I didn’t want to say with spies around. It might jeopardize my mission. Mother didn’t understand.

“Matty wasn’t there.”  Deep, dark voice of authority. That’s all I could tell her.

“Oh, honey, we have to find him. Where could he be?”

Matty.  Captured!  Held behind enemy lines.  This fire a diversion! Have to find headquarters and request permission for a Special Up.  The spy looking at me now. Adjutant mom in danger!

“Go home and wait.  I will report back when I have more information.”

Confused adjutant, saying, “Wait, what?”

I run into the park, after Major Nolette’s patrol.  See them off in the distance.  Run to catch up.

Major Nolette sees me.  Turns around to face me, one last time.  Look of concern.

“My brother’s missing,” I say.  No need to give away too much information.  Have to speak on their level, them not knowing Special Up protocol.

“Slug?”

“Private Matty!”

“Private?”

That’s right!  His promotion came too late. They wouldn’t know.

“Yes. We must search.  Last seen at the Fort.”

“You mean the Calvary Fort?”

“The late Calvary Fort, yes.”

“You are one weird fucker!”

Must stay calm, must stay focused. Not personal. Mission comes first!

“Yes!  Will you help?”

Lieutenant Nosal: “Bummer, we should wait to see if Mim died in the fire.”

Major Nolette: “Yeah, besides we can’t go searchin’ for anybody in the dark; we ain’t got flashlights or lanterns or nothing.”

Corporal Clark: “Geez, I can’t believe about Mim.  You think he really was a fag, like everybody says?”

Major Nolette: “I’m pretty sure. Harvey said he knew that Mim got to the fat Patrick kids one time.  And, my brother’s little friend says he did it to him.”

Lieutenant Nosal: “I don’t know!  Harvey is a bullshit artist and you can’t never believe little kids.  They don’t half the time know what the fuck they’re talkin’ about, you know?”

Major Nolette:  “Well, we fucking need to find out.  I gave Mim a pretty bad time today, all because of that asshole Yoder kid.  I want to kick Yoder’s ass.  He’s the one we should look for, the bastard!”

Bad information. Stupid intelligence!  Spies have infiltrated our perimeter.  Need to guide this platoon.

I said, “Yoder is the enemy.  I know where he lives.”

Lieutenant Nosal:  “You still here you crazy dickwad? What the hell are you talkin’ about?”

Commander Kozinski: “Yoder.  Evil.  Must be stopped.”

Major Nolette: “Stopped, huh?  You want to stop him?”

Commander Kozinski:  “Stop him.  Before he kills again!”

Lieutenant Nosal:  “Whataya mean, ‘kills again’?”

Commander Kozinski: “The fire at Manette Dump. Yoder!”

It was suddenly clear.  Yoder must be eliminated.  Justice must be done!

Major Nolette: “You saying Yoder lit the fire at Mim’s house?”

Commander Kozinski:  “To kill the evil fag.”

Lieutenant Nosal:  “Jesus Christ, Bummer!  What should we do?”

Corporal Clark:  “We gotta tell the cops who done it!  Fuckin’ Yoder!  It all makes sense.  Who else would want to kill Mim?”

Major Nolette:  “And his family, too! Jesus, did you see his sister in the window?  She’s a goner!”

Lieutenant Nosal:  “Nutso, you fuckin’ sure?”

Commander Kozinski: “It is clear. Thy will be done!”

Major Nolette:  “What?”

Commander Kozinski: “Let justice be done!”

Lieutenant Nosal: “This guy’s elevator don’t go all the way to the top, guys.  I think he’s been smokin’ some of that funny shit that’s been around.”

Corporal Clark:  “Yeah, but what he’s sayin’ makes sense.  We gotta do what’s right, men.”

Yes.  Men must do what is right.  The mission must not fail.

Major Nolette:  “Come on, Nutso, come with us and tell the cops what you know.”

Must search.  Must stick to mission.  Leave this place.  Must find the enemy and destroy!

Major Nolette:  “Where the fuck you going, you loony?”

Retreat, retreat, retreat!  Say nothing. Platoon indecisive.  Turn away, back towards the supply dump, burning.  Subterfuge.  Mystery. Centrifuge! Operation must go on.

I secure my helmet and hang grenades.   I get low and shimmy down the path towards the target. I smell smoke in the air.  The enemy is awake and waiting.  I must be careful.  Careful to destroy.

I shimmer from shadow to shadow. It is all shadows. Shadows between shadows.  Near the site of the old fort, now.  Destroyed, as it should be. Follow the path. Quiet, like a mouse.

Movement ahead. Slow and crawl. Army crawl.  Concealment.  Intrigue. Constipation.

Fast movement! Crashing in the brush.  Enemy concealment beached! Running, running to the back lines.  Pursuit!  Breathing hard.  Whimpering up ahead. Gaining, gaining. Running far.  Catch the enemy!  Go, go!

Reach First Street, according to intelligence map. Enemy has beached a fence and run up stairs of a building. Stopped on a landing.  Stares down at me like I’m a ghost.

“Get the goddam hell away from me you goddam lunatic!”

Enemy is speaking German.  I can’t understand. But, the jig is up. I give orders.

“Surrender!  Hands up!  Spread ‘em!”

“What the fuck are you talking about?  Get the hell away from me!”

Enemy runs up next flight of stairs.  Yanks on a locked door in the moonlight. No entry!

“Ma!  Ma! Let me in!  Ma!!”

Other enemies inside.  Security has been beached.  Conspiracy is broader than first thought!  Time for harsh measures.  Hang grenades have fallen on ground.  I pick up a few good sized ones and lob them at enemy compound.  Crash of glass.  Tinkling sounds.  Enemy combatant screaming for help!

“Ma!  For Christ’s Sake, let me in! Ma!!”

White face at window.

“Jimmy, what are you doing?  What’s wrong?”

“He’s gonna kill me!”

“Oh my goodness!”

Conspirator opens back door.  I rush up steps.  Opportunity to capture compound.  Screams from above.  Male and Female voices.  Door slams.

Voice from inside compound.

 “I’m calling the police!”

Another voice from, below.

“Irma?  What’s wrong?  What’s all the yelling?”

Surrounded!  Curses!  Foiled again!  Escape!  No!  Fight to the last man!

Slam body against door.  Window glass breaks!  Again.  Door holds.  Again, door splinters.  Push hard, kick.  Slam body.  Door gives in!

Conspirator dialing phone!  SOS! Calling for reinforcements.  Operation in jeopardy!  Yank out telegraph line.

 “Mrs. Mason, help!  Call the police.  He’s trying to kill us! EEEEEE!”

Corner of my eye, enemy soldier with bat.  Slams shoulder.  Intense pain!  Can’t understand their language.  Guttural grunts and screeching!  Arm no longer works.  Hangs at the side.  Conspirator in corner, hands to face. Retreat!  Door to stairs, front stairs of building.  Clop down stairs, three at a time.  Fleet as the wind!  Retreat to fight another day.  The lion feeling!  Strong, courageous, constipatious! Defender of liberty!

Out the front door to street.  Main Street, according to memorized intelligence map.  Remember railroad tracks run parallel, behind…those buildings there.  Run!  People watching.  Yelling, “Stop, stop!” No identification in dark. Sirens coming! Run hard, run strong, run true.  Arm better. Tracks underfoot.  Miles to go before I sleep. If I should die before I wake.

Need to rest, can’t breathe, knives in my chest!  Keep going.  Trip. Fall on cinders.  Sharp and rough!  Get up.  Run!  Need to report. Need reinforcements or all is loss.  Enemy reinforcements. Unstoppable hoard.  Possible end of war.  Can’t let us down!  Run.  Report. Save the day!  Depends on me!

Running.  Hurting. Seems like hours.  Find the path down to Main three blocks up.  Reconnoder across the street from headquarters.  Crowd of soldiers and civilians down the street.  Some building burning.  Enemy operations so close to headquarters.  Must try.  Must attempt to report.
Check two way wrist TV. 2:30 in the morning.  Dead of night. Best time to try.

Cross the street in the dark.  Can’t risk front door.  Cannot be seen.  Side of building.  Drain pipe.  Shimmy up. One arm useless. Strength overcomes weakness! Make it.  Crawl in room.  Report.

Commanding officer says job well done.  Take rest, will be needed later.  Grab some shut eye while you can.  Forty winks! Dreamland.  Close eyes. No rest for the wicked.

I come awake in the night. Mom is standing by my bed.

“Ricky, when did you come in?”

“Huh?”

“I’m sorry, were you asleep?”

“Annnhhh, yeah, I guess.”

“There are police downstairs. They say you broke into the Yoder’s apartment.”

“Huh?”

“They said you broke in and terrorized them and beat up poor Jimmy!”

“Me? When?”

“Well, just now, I guess.”

“But I was sleepin’.”

“Well, that’s what I told them.  But they want to talk to you, so throw something on and come downstairs.”

She waited while I got out of bed.  I already had my pajamas on so I just went downstairs with her to the parlor.  There were two cops there.

Mom said, “He was upstairs sound asleep, officer.”

The cop said, “How long were you here, son.”

I said, “I donno, what time is it?”

“After 3.”

“I donno, I went out to see the fire but came right back in when they said it was safe.”

Mom said, “Well, I like this, officer.  Coming into our home in the middle of the night with wild accusations! I woke him up when the fire started and he went out with me, then came back in a little while later.  I saw him.”

One cop said to me, “So, you weren’t at the Yoder place about 45 minutes ago?”

“Annnhhh, I was asleep.”

“Officer, he was asleep.  I would have known if he was out.  I sat by the front door all night, waiting for my youngest to come home.  My Ricky’s a good boy and never gets into trouble.”

“OK, ma’am.  You say your youngest is still out?”

“Yeah, my little Matty.  I haven’t seen him since breakfast. It’s not like him to stay out late.  I’m real worried.”

“Have you reported it, ma’am?”

“I called your sergeant when I came in from the fire and he wasn’t here yet.  They said there was nothing they could do until morning.”

“And he doesn’t ever stay out late?”

“Never has.  My boys are good boys and never get into any trouble.”

“OK, we’ll keep an eye out.  Probably just still out watching the fire. Let’s go, Bill.  I think that young Yoder is up to something and tried to pin it on this youngster.  I don’t like the looks of him.  Sorry to bother you, ma’am.”

They got up and went out the door.  Mom saw them out and then came back in.

“Ricky?”

“Annnhhh, yeah mom?”

“Is everything OK?”

“Yeah!”

Anything you want to talk about?”

“Nah.”

“OK, better go to bed.  We’ll see what’s what in the morning.”

Geezum, my head is killin’ me.

I went back up to headquarters.  The commander said she was on to me.  We’d have to think fast to escape this time.  I looked outside and saw an enemy operative standing outside, watching the fire.  We’d have to move soon.  Fight!  Kill the enemy! Make him suffer!