Boomtown (16 page)

  Arriving at the funeral home, the hearse parked under an awning in the back of the building, got out, opened the back door to the funeral home, then came back and opened the back hatch of the suburban.  The guys yet again moved the body, placing him on a platform in the biggest room they had, according to the director. 

  I walked back outside to give the guys time by themselves and to make sure I was there with Janie when she woke.

SAM

  The funeral director lifted the casket lids after James made the request.

  There Dougie sat, in his dress uniform.  The uniform itself was immaculate.  Most people don’t know that a brand new uniform is made for each deceased soldier.  Some people might wonder why bother when it will never see the light of day.  However the uniform is a symbol.  Each soldier is proud to be in their uniforms.  There is a certain type of man that can wear the uniform, and to die for your country makes you a hero, and heroes deserve the best.  The Gold Bar on his left breast gleamed.  He was so proud when he made Second Lieutenant.  He always said a man like him was lucky to be where he was today. The beret on his head was perfectly settled, and his shoes shined brightly.

  He looked like he was sleeping.  My heart hurt, and it felt hard to breathe.  I had lost five good men, and it never got any easier.  This one hurt the most, because it made me wonder. If I had been there, would this have happened? 

  “Can you tell us what happened?” I asked James. 

  He took a deep breath, and then began.

  “We were black for only 17 hours when it all TARFU.  It was Justin.  I saw him with my own eyes.  He looked me in the eyes, smiled at me, and waved.  Knew we were there.”  He took another shaky breath, let it out slowly, and then started again, “We were dropped off by a helo, scouted for hours before we found the right spot.  Dougie was looking through the night vision binoculars and I was looking through my scope when I saw our target. Dougie gave me the specs, and I took the shot.  The intel we received said that there were no hostiles in residence.  Unfortunately they were wrong, and a shit ton of people stormed out.     They shot everywhere in all directions.  We were retreating when he was shot in the upper right chest right under his collar bone.  It was a through and through, didn’t look too bad. He said it hurt like a mother, but he was ok to move.  We both took off to the rendezvous and had just arrived when more shots rang out.  Dougie was collapsed, so I picked him up and carried him to the waiting helo, I took one to the left leg and one to the right arm before I got him there.  As we cleared the trees I laid out some shots towards the area that the shots came from earlier when I saw him.  He was sitting in an armored jeep with the inside lights on so I could see him, fucking waving at me.  I started some return fire towards him when the helo banked hard right and I lost sight of him.” 

  I grabbed the back of his neck, and made him look in my eyes when I told him, “There was nothing you could do, James.  Everything you did was right.”  

  “He gave me a note.  For when Kayla gets old enough to understand.  Right before he went, he told me it was in his right front pocket.” James said shakily. 

  The guys had remained quiet up until now, letting James and me talk, but at that there were some muttered curses.  I think all soldiers prepared for the worst.  They didn’t want to be caught unprepared, just in case.

  I looked at them all, and then said, “Alright guys, we need to get to the hotel and get settled.  We haven’t had much sleep.  So let’s get a little shut eye.  The funeral is at 9:45 tomorrow morning.  Who wants first shift?”  

  “I want to do it.”  Gabe said. He took up sentry by the door as the rest of us left through the way we came. 

  When we got outside, the first thing I saw was Cheyenne playing tag in the parking lot with Janie.  Janie would run up to Cheyenne, and then take off running in the opposite direction, while Cheyenne pretended to not be able to catch her.  Ember looked on, while sitting on a stone bench under the awning, Blaine beside her. 

  I glanced over to James to see that he had a sad smile on his face.

  Suddenly a piercing shriek came from Janie when she fell and scraped her knee.  She was wailing “Daddy” over and over again.  James took off like he wasn’t hurt, and got to her even before Cheyenne did.  He scooped her up and whispered into her hair while Janie buried her head into his neck.  It wasn’t long before Janie realized she actually had her daddy and started crying for a different reason, giving him slobbery snot kisses in the process.

CHEYENNE

  Once again tears were pouring down my face when Janie realized that James had her.  She was so very excited, squirming and bouncing up and down.  James held on like his life depended on it, and he was never letting go.

  Sam’s arm circled my waist, and we all watched James and Janie for a long while.  When Janie finally stopped squealing, James turned to us and asked if we were ready to go, so we nodded and headed to the vehicles.  James strapped Janie into her car seat while I hopped into the back to let James have the front.  Motorcycles roared behind us as we made our way out of the parking lot. 

  We got to the hotel, and the men went inside to arrange rooms for a few days while I stayed in the car with Janie.  Ember and Blaine stayed on their prospective bikes.

 Janie screaming and crying because James had left her, and I was trying to talk to her to get her to calm down when there was a tap on the door.  I turned in my seat to see Dougie’s mom holding a sleeping little girl.

  I threw open my door and had her in my arms before she even had a chance to back away.  As soon as I got my arms around her she started crying, which in turn started me to crying.  Kayla lay asleep between us, blissfully unaware to what was going on.   

  I had only met Mrs. Nash a few times, but each of those times we bonded because of her love of Roller Derby.  We were both talking about what we were interested in when the roller derby came up.  I started in with the Roller Derby scene when I was fourteen.  Each Tuesday and Thursday night we would practice, and then on Saturday nights the bought was held.   

  I roped Ember into it, and we have competed with the Bombers every season since. One weekend while Dougie was visiting, Mrs. Nash drove down with Kayla, and they decided to go watch one of our meets.  Mrs. Nash fell in love with it, and even came one other time without Dougie being there.  She was always so lovely and full of life.  She did come off as sad at times, but Dougie explained that she missed her husband.  They had been together for forty five years when Mr. Nash had died of a heart attack.  

  “How are you doing Mrs. Nash?” I whisper into her ear. 

  Her breath hitches, and she says “Not so good.  I always knew this was a possibility.  I just never thought it would happen to him.  My heart feels empty.  A parent shouldn’t outlive a child.” 

  By the time she finished telling me this she was outright crying.  Kayla woke, and looked so sweet and sleepy.  I reached for her and gave her a big hug and a sloppy kiss on the cheek.  She giggled and said “Stop it!”

  “Would you like to play with Janie for a little bit? She sure has missed you!” I asked her, while opening up the back door where Janie was, and set Kayla on the seat.  The two girls started talking in the baby language like they understood perfectly what the other was saying.  I closed the door and turned back to Mrs. Nash. 

  “I’m so sorry, Mrs. Nash.  I don’t even know what to say.  I loved Dougie too, and I am sure it is no comparison to what you have to be feeling right now.  Do you have a room here?” I asked her. 

  “Yes, it’s on the fourth floor.  I’m just so tired.  I haven’t slept since the soldier came to the door to tell me.  I need to talk to Sam and James also.  Could you tell them to come see me?” she asked. 

  “Of course!  I’ll send him up there as soon as we get checked in.” I said to her. 

  “Yes, that is good.  My room number is 407.” She said while reaching for the door handle to get Kayla.

  “Would you like us to keep her for a little while? I’ll watch her while you get some rest.  I’ll bring her back later this evening.” I said to her.

  “That would be good.  I need a little break down time.  I haven’t been able to get away from her for long.  She senses that something wrong.  I don’t know what to tell her.” She answered.

  “Ok.  If you want to go ahead, I’ll send them to you when they get a chance.” I replied.

  She nodded her head, and shuffled around the side of the building disappearing out of sight a while later.  She looked defeated.  My heart hurt even more now that I had seen her.  Dougie always said she had died a little inside after Mr. Nash passed.  And now I am sure if it wasn’t for Kayla, she would have been an empty shell.

  Ember and Blaine had come over as soon as Mrs. Nash left, to watch the girls play together in the back seat.  This was a bittersweet feeling, seeing them laughing and happy when the world had just lost a wonderful man. 

  Sam came out a short while later with two key cards.  One for each of us.  The guys followed him out, talking in a low tone that I couldn’t make out.  He came up between Blaine and I, wrapping his arm around my waist, staring in the Suburban’s window watching the two girls play.  

  “What’s going on?” Sam asked quietly. 

  “Mrs. Nash came by with Kayla a little while ago.  She wants James and you to come see her when you get a chance.” I said.  “I’ll watch the girls while y’all go.”

  James came up to me and wrapped his arms around me.  I sank into him, breathing him in, being thankful that he was still alive. I’d been close to losing him.

   James kissed the top of my head, then opened the car door and got Janie out of her seat and set her down on the concrete beside the Suburban.  He then reached for Kayla and did the same with her.  The little girls ran around at our feet and laughed and played.  I grabbed both of their hands when the luggage was all loaded onto the luggage rack and headed towards the elevators.   

  Everyone ended up on the same floor, and we dropped off luggage at each door we passed until we arrived at our door.  James had a connecting door to our room.  I entered into my room and let the girls free to explore.  They took off and started jumping from couch to couch.  James walked out through the connecting room’s door and asked if Sam was ready, obviously overhearing my conversation with Sam earlier.   Sam nodded, so I picked up the phone and gave Mrs. Nash a quick call to let her know that they were on the way. 

  “We’ll be back.” Sam said while giving me a quick peck on the lips before him and James exited the hotel room. 

  “Would y’all like to watch The Little Mermaid?” I asked them. 

  They both got excited, so I turned on the TV and slid the DVD into the player and started the movie.  Both girls became engrossed in the movie, and I rested my head against the couch and closed my eyes.  I hadn’t slept much the last couple nights, and I was so glad to have James home healthy.  I just wish I didn’t have to pay the price of having Dougie gone.   

  Dougie was such a good man.  He made me laugh without even trying, and it broke my heart that he was no longer here.  His little girl would barely even know who he was.  I promised myself that I was going to make sure that Kayla grew up knowing who her dad was, and that he was a hero. 

SAM

  “I am going to move to Kilgore.” Mrs. Nash rushed out.  “I need help, and Dougie told me in a call a few days before he passed that you had offered.  I am going to take you up on that offer.” 

  “That would be wonderful, Mrs. Nash.” I said to her.  “Do you have any places in mind on where you would like to live?”

  “I already have a rental there.  I was planning on coming down anyway since he was moving there.  I already had nearly all my boxes packed and the movers will be here next week.  I have a place rented in the historical district.”

  I nodded and said “Okay, that sounds good.  Do you need any help getting anything moved?  I can hook up a U-Haul to the truck for the trip back.”

  “No dear.” She said quietly twisting her hands in her lap.  “I wanted to talk to you both about Dougie.  I have a feeling that you are both blaming yourselves.  I want to make sure that y’all are okay.”

 I looked over at James, but he was looking down at his boots.  His head hung limply down, with a defeated posture.  He looked about how I felt.  I had more experience hiding it though.  Silence reigned on, and Mrs. Nash stood up from her chair across from us and walked over to us, placing her hands on the sides of both of our cheeks.

  She looked from one of us to the other and then said, “He loved that job.  He loved you two also.  He wouldn’t want you two blaming yourselves for this.  Especially you, James.  I think he had some sort of feeling that something would happen, because he made sure that Kayla and I had you two.  He knew that if something happened to him, that you both would watch over us.  Other than his daughter, you two were all he ever talked about.  I don’t want you to blame yourselves.  Life is too short.  Live it and love it.”

  After that, we discussed what would happen at the funeral tomorrow and her moving to Kilgore.  We spent nearly three hours talking about Dougie, and traded stories about some of the stuff he got up to. 

  I felt lighter when we left, and with that came resolve.  Whoever this guy was that took Dougie away from us would pay, but dying would be too good for him.  He deserved something much, much worse.  His little girl doesn’t deserve to grow up without her dad. 

Chapter 11

  The service was beautiful.  The funeral procession was awe inspiring.  The line of cars was over one hundred vehicles long, and that wasn’t even including the sheer craziness of motorcycles.  There had to be at least three hundred of them.  I’m sure the people that had to pull over were kind of put out with how long they had to stay on the side of the road waiting for us to pass.  There were people pulled over on the side of the road with candles lit, and signs saying RIP and Thank you for your service.  There were even fire trucks with their ladders raised and American flags flying on top of the over passes.