In Times of War

Chapter Thirty-Five

Chapter Thirty-Five

“Maria, sweetheart, come on, you’ve hardly slept all month.”

   “I’m fine, Gladys. I just need to work.” I say tiredly. I was really tired, but I didn’t want to sleep because the nightmares would be there. I was also more useful working than I was sleeping. It’s been one month since David and Lee left and I hadn’t had any dreams in that one month. All I had was nightmares about them dying. I was really worried about both of them.

   No one had given me any information about David’s condition. I knew that I probably wouldn’t find out if he… if he… died. No one would send me a telegram. No one would send me a condolence letter. I wouldn’t find out he died until his mother or mine sent me a letter telling me what happened. The only way for me to quickly find out how he was doing was to communicate with the hospital where he was, but they wouldn’t tell me anything because I wasn’t a military official. I had been watching the mail like a hawk but no letter came from anyone. I was undecided as to whether that was a good thing or a bad thing.

“Maria, if you don’t go to bed now I will drag you out of here by your ear.” Gladys puts her hands on her hips and looks at me the way my mother used to when I argued about eating just with less sadness.

“Fine, but I’m coming back bright and early.”

“Then I’ll just drag you out again. You’ve gotta sleep more than four hours a night.”

“Whatever you say, Gladys.”

   “Don’t you sass me, girl. Now get!” She shoos me out and I walk slowly back to my cot. I flop down on it and do my best to fall asleep. I want to avoid the nightmares about Zacharias killing David or Lee, or even my family. I was getting really worried about Jimmy because I hadn’t gotten letter from him in months. I was starting to worry that one of Zacharias’s men might have gotten to him. The only thing slightly reassuring was that I hadn’t received a telegram or a letter from my mother telling me that she had gotten a telegram. All of my worrying and attempts to stay awake prove to be in vain as always. This time the nightmare is about Jimmy.

   The room is dark. There is a little light coming in from a lamp on the far side by the door to the cement block room. I look around to see why I am in this room. I’ve never been in a room like this before; it’s always in a tent, or on the battlefield, or even back at home. I can’t see anything familiar until I see a fiery head sticking out from a blanket on one of the many cots in the room. I walk closer just to make sure that it is who I think it is. My suspicions are confirmed when I see my brother’s sleeping face.

    I squeeze my eyes shut to try and change my surroundings. I had seen everyone else I cared about die so many times I was used to it. But I didn’t think I could watch my brother die. I chant to myself, “Please, please, please, not him, please not him. Anyone but him.”

   I hear a creak and turn my head to see a man with blond hair creeping in the door. At first I don’t recognize him, but as he gets closer I realize that it’s Carl, the man who attacked me and David in the alley and the man who beat me. Carl looks around to see if anyone woke up, but no one did. Jimmy always could sleep through anything, but I was sure that someone would wake up. But no one did. As always, I can’t speak or move to notify anyone or to stop anything. I’m forced to watch as Carl pulls a knife from an inside pocket of his coat and creeps up to my sleeping brother.

   “This is your sister’s fault.” Carl whispers in Jimmy’s ear. Jimmy’s eyes flutter open and momentary confusion flashes on his face. Then the confusion turns to pain as Carl slits my brother’s throat. The pain falls from his face as the light leaves his blue eyes. I have by now given up on trying to retaliate against the attackers in these nightmares, so I just stand there and wait for it to end. But it doesn’t.