Call-Sign? Wolf.

Apology Beer

The pilots with rio's went first today. That meant tomorrow it would be me, Hangman, Rooster, and Coyote. I was beyond nervous, seeing how defeated the other pilots looked while coming back.

My entire pilot life has led up to this moment. The moment where I got to fly against one of the best.

For now, I sat in my bed with the red envelope in my hand. I wiped my thumb across my mothers beautiful cursive handwriting. I missed her more than anything right now. It took everything in me not to rip open the letter and read it. I had to know what she needed to tell Pete Mitchell so badly.

I sighed and looked towards my suitcase. From the bottom of my bag, I dug out my stuffed wolf toy from when I was a child. I know, it's pretty embarrassing carrying around your childhood stuffed animal as an adult now. Somehow, having it made me feel more connected to my mom, like she was there with me.

I took the toy out and set it down on the desk. I sat down in the black rolling chair and leaned my head down on the wooden desk, becoming eye level with the toy.
"Tell me something mom." I whispered, taking the small toys paw in between my fingers.

My phone buzzed, I picked it up looking at an unknown number. It was Phoenix. I smiled while adding her to my phone and responding.

Just as I hit send a knock sounded from my door. I was confused, I had just sent the message. Was she here already?

"Pheonix, I thought you said 8?" I opened the door to reveal a shocked Maverick.
I was equally as surprised, immediately standing in a respective position, straightening my posture.

"Captain Mitchell-"

"No please, just call me Maverick."

"Maverick. What do I owe the pleasure?"

He looked awkward, like he wasn't sure what to say.
"I, um, I don't know what you know about me, if you know anything at all. I, Uh- I'm sorry. This is weird, let me start over."

We both shared an awkward chuckle. I didn't know what to think of where this conversation could be going.

"I was told your mother is Charolette Blackwood. I was just wondering, how is she?"

My heart fell a little. He looked so eager to hear what I was about to say. I frowned a little. Though it had happened years ago, thinking about my mothers death still hurt me.
"She, Um, she was good. She lost my dad, had me, got married, she enjoyed her job in DC."

There was a silence between us when I reached the end of my short story. I could tell that there was something in his face that might have put two and two together.
"She..." I continued, mustering up the courage. "She got cancer. Stage four tumor spread across her spine. She passed away 6... almost 7 years ago now."

I could see the hurt that slowly spread across his face. His fingers fell to his front as he twiddled his thumbs around.
"Oh, I'm so sorry."

"It's okay. She actually left me with this to give to you." I stepped into my room and took the envelope from off my desk and returned to my door. I gave him a weak smile as I handed the small letter to him. He looked down at it and took it gently in his hands.